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Jonathan Mashingaidze

Sports Reporter
FIFA have rejected an attempt by Jonathan Mashingaidze to drag the world football governing body into his dispute with his former employers in yet another massive blow to the former ZIFA chief executive who has been engaged in battle against the current ZIFA leadership. The world football governing body have, virtually, thrown Mashingaidze under the ZIFA bus, saying his grievances can only be resolved by the domestic football leadership, without FIFA’s involvement in the issue.

It’s yet another slap on the face of Mashingaidze from FIFA after the world football governing body rejected attempts by him, and a coalition of other local football leaders, to replace the current ZIFA leadership with a normalisation committee. They claimed, in a dossier sent to FIFA after their meeting with the former world football governing body’s point man in Southern Africa, Ashford Mamelodi, that the ZIFA leadership under Philip Chiyangwa had lost its mandate to run the game and needed to be replaced by an ad-hoc committee.

FIFA, who appointed a similar normalisation committee to run the affairs of Cameroon football, rejected the appeal from the disgruntled constituency in Zimbabwe football and, instead, said they had full faith in the leadership of Chiyangwa and his team.

The world football governing body said the challenges in the administration of Zimbabwean football were being fuelled by the mountain of debt, estimated at around $7 million, which Chiyangwa and his team inherited from the previous leadership.

Mashingaidze, in a fresh protest on FIFA, wanted the world football governing body to resolve the issue in which he claims he is owed huge sums in unpaid salaries by his former employers.

Chiyangwa and his crew have countered that with claims to the Sports Commission that they believe the former ZIFA chief executive could not account for more than $700 000.

On Monday, FIFA rebuffed the latest attempts by Mashingaidze for them to intervene in his dispute with the ZIFA leaders. “We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 24 August 2017, the contents of which received our full attention,’’ FIFA secretary-general, Fatima Samoura, wrote to Mashingaidze.

“Following an analysis of the content of your letter, we have to inform you that the issue seems to be a purely internal matter which should be assessed and resolved in accordance with the statutes and regulations of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) as well as the pertinent laws at national level.