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Ashford Mamelodi

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
FIFA development officer for Eastern and Southern Africa Ashford Mamelodi insists today’s watershed ZIFA extraordinary general meeting will be a councillors’ show. The world football governing body’s delegates, said Mamelodi, are only present in the country to give guidelines and oversee the proceedings.

The assembly members will converge this morning with the only item on the agenda now being their bid to revoke the mandate of the association’s executive committee led by president Cuthbert Dube. The indaba is being held at the behest of the members who successfully appealed to FIFA to have the opportunity to discuss a possible withdrawal of the ZIFA board’s mandate without fear of being suspended by the executive as was the case on their initial attempt.

Mamelodi is part of a four-man high powered FIFA and Confederation of African Football delegation that flew into Harare yesterday afternoon to preside over the crunch indaba that could see Dube’s second four-year term in office being ended prematurely, if councillors decide as is highly likely, to withdraw the mandate they had given him to lead football 18 months ago.

The other FIFA delegates are the world body’s head of member of associations’ Primo Corvaro and newly appointed member associations manager Luca Nicola while former South African Football Association president Molife Oliphant is in the country to represent CAF.

Corvaro, who has travelled across the globe to assist member associations to deal with their constitutional issues and other internal problems, is on his first visit to Zimbabwe and is actually heading the entire delegation.

But the Swiss national yesterday declined to comment on the ZIFA indaba at least until before the councillors deliberate on the revocation matter. Both Corvaro and Nicola referred all questions to Mamelodi with the latter, who began working for FIFA in Zurich on Thursday, revealing his excitement at being in Zimbabwe.

“I cannot say much about the congress but I must say I am so excited to be in Zimbabwe for the first time, it is a nice country. I have been to East Africa on United Nations business when I was with the Swiss foreign office. “But this is my first assignment with FIFA. I started work yesterday (Thursday) and in my second day I am in Harare and I am excited about it and looking forward to attending the congress,’’ Nicola said.

While the FIFA and CAF delegates have added an international flavor to the indaba, there is no doubt the focus of attention from the meeting which has aroused huge interest within and outside the country’s borders will be on Dube and the assembly which just one and half years ago gave him a second four-year mandate, albeit after re-run against his closet rival – Trevor Carelse-Juul.

Today’s meeting was expected to discuss ZIFA’s audited accounts but the association failed to secure $30 00 that was needed to pay Gwatidzo and Company for their services.

Mamelodi, who is no stranger to Zimbabwe having been on many FIFA business visits, also maintained that the world body was concerned with the poor financial state of ZIFA. The former COSAFA secretary-general confirmed that FIFA had suspended financial aid to ZIFA because of the association’s failure to produce audited accounts and present the assembly’s budget to Zurich in time for the disbursements of the Financial assistance programme grant.

“FIFA attaches a lot of significance to Zimbabwe and obviously there are concerns about the state of ZIFA. “When my director of development (Cyril Loisel) came here he also expressed serious concern with the financial situation that ZIFA are in and said it is not manageable. Something has to be done to help that financial position.

“But for now we are here to monitor the implementation of the members’ request and it is their show really. “We wanted to have two items on the agenda which are to: Revoke the mandate of the board. Table the audited accounts.

“Now the audited accounts will not be discussed because ZIFA could not find money to pay for the audit report there will be just one main item on the agenda. “I also don’t think there are any members will be suspended for convening this meeting,’’ Mamelodi said. The veteran administrator also gave a hint on the possible scenarios that could emerge from today’s meeting but insisted that Corvaro would be the main man to guide the councilors at any stage or clause on which they would need clarity.

Mamelodi said in the event that the motion to revoke the mandate of the board sailed through, under-fire ZIFA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze would run the association for three months during which a notice for a special meeting to elect a new board should be sent to the assembly members.

“Maybe if the board is stood down, the general secretary will have to hold fort for about three months while another assembly meeting is convened for purposes of election. “The three-month period is given to allow prospective candidates to file their nomination papers and canvass for support.

“Primo (Corvaro) is the head of delegation on this mission and he will assist in every aspect which the members may want guidelines and our visit here is totally legal. From the revocation request that was put in July it was for the entire board and I don’t know if circumstances have changed but I doubt if it also constitutional to alter the agenda they had put in writing.

“The ZIFA executive would also have to guide us on the status of the suspended members (Omega Sibanda, Miriam Sibanda and Bernard Gwarada) and what action they have taken on them. “But whatever the assembly does, we trust that they will be guided by the constitution just like revocation is a provision in the constitution and is standard and members can exercise that right if they feel they are not happy with the way things are going,’’ Mamelodi said.

Corvaro, Mamelodi said will also explain to councillors on the status of such councilors like Premier Soccer League chairman Twine Phiri who were not directly elected onto the ZIFA board but came in by virtue of representing their constituencies.