Zimbabwe’s awkward overtures to Bonne should have ended a while ago

Ipswich Town forward Macauley Bonne has again turned down the chance to play for the Zimbabwe national football team.

This is four coaches and two Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) competitions down the line.

The latest reason is on ‘medical exemption’, in a note by his club for which the core kicks off with the phrase ‘you are being advised’.

That Bonne is a talented English League One player is without a doubt. Would he add to Zimbabwe’s dearth in talent up front? Absolutely. League One, though third tier in England trumps local top flight.

The Bonne obsession by four successive coaches is a bit strange. He did come play in two friendlies but other than that, there has always been one reason or the other for his absence. The loudest he came across as being desirous of place in the hallowed history of the Warriors was in the run-up to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt. His sincerity is not for us to question but outside the flashing lights of the finals, did he want to be part of the hard slog of the national team to get to milestones.

We don’t know what is in his heart, and that is between him and those he advises of such but Bonne has for a long time shown that he has no commitment to the cause that is Zimbabwe. It is scandalous and a side-show that his name keeps getting picked, with no result.

National team football is about country. It is about the fortune and misgivings a country is dealt. It is not a fixture but a declaration of patriotism, to leave a part of yourself on the field for the country.

Bonne’s non-committal attitude either way implies a disingenuous attitude. That he does not put himself on public record in his availability or lack thereof leaves him with room for deniability. If he should change his mind in three years, he wants to come and say he never once did say he was not interested in playing for Zimbabwe. Rather he lets other people do the talking.

Even with the medical exemption issue, he could have gotten onto a camera via his social media accounts and told the fans that ‘sorry folks, I am not well. I am gutted and I would have liked to represent my country but life sucks’ or whatever.

Zimbabwe’s continued groveling at Bonne’s feet when more accomplished players have made themselves available for national duty is weird and awkward and should stop now.

We will still wish Bonne well, in his health and career. But we must not spend any more energy around his jiving at our expense.