By Fanuel Viriri
From dishing red cards to battling addiction at home
He was the man who dished out red cards on the biggest stages in world football. A top policeman in Harare who nabbed hardened criminals without blinking.
But when drugs knocked on his own door, former World Cup referee Brighton Mudzamiri could not contain it.
Mudzamiri has narrated how drugs destroyed his son, in a touching testimony that shows how Zimbabwe’s drug crisis has now knocked on the door of every household.
Mudzamiri made history in 2002 when he became the first Zimbabwean to officiate at the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.
Then a police superintendent in Harare, he was selected as an assistant referee after an impressive performance at the Africa Cup of Nations, where he officiated the final between Cameroon and Senegal.
At the time, BBC Sport called him “Zimbabwe’s proudest man.”
“This is the greatest achievement of my lifetime and I’m hoping not to let the nation down,” he said then.
On the pitch, he was fearless. In each stadium, 32 television cameras tracked his every call.
Off the pitch, he was flying high in the police force, a renowned lawman who had conquered both football and policing.
For all that success, Mudzamiri told the Angel of Hope Drug Rehabilitation Foundation this week, he could not save his own son from drugs.
In an emotional reunion with his son coming out of rehab that left him in tears, Mudzamiri reflected on the second chance given to his son – a chance he said the family had almost given up on.
His son had excelled academically before drugs derailed his life. He had scored 15 points at Advanced Level and was studying at university, with a future he had worked so hard to build.
But addiction threatened to destroy it all.
Mudzamiri broke down as he spoke about seeing his son again.
Mudzamiri’s story is now the story of Zimbabwe.
Drugs are now a big problem in the country and have knocked on the door of every household, with parents and guardians battling to control their addicted sons, daughters and relatives.
If a man who controlled AFCON finals and chased criminals for a living could be brought to tears by drugs in his own home, what about the ordinary parent?
Drugs know no profession. Drugs know no standing in society.
