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FIFA boss Gianni Infantino.

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
THE vultures might be circling over Philip Chiyangwa’s head as the ZIFA election madness slips into another gear, but all the domestic boardroom fissures haven’t appeared to dent the special and certainly deeply personal relationship which the Harare tycoon enjoys with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino.

Chiyangwa has been facing a barrage of criticism from those who claim his board could plunge local football into a constitutional and leadership crisis of monumental proportions should they, as largely expected, extend their term of office beyond March 27 this year.

They argue that the four-year term of the current leadership — which Chiyangwa and his board inherited from Cuthbert Dube and his crew after they were booted from office through the revocation of their mandate to lead domestic football — ends on March 27 this year.

Therefore, elections for either an extension of Chiyangwa’s leadership or the arrival of a new leader for domestic football should be held on or before March 27 to avoid a constitutional crisis in the country’s national game.

However, the ZIFA board argue they won’t be in violation of their constitution as long as they hold their polls this year and the Congress, set to meet in two weeks time, can provide them with the mandate to craft an election Road Map which will culminate in the polls for the national football leadership later this year.

Acting ZIFA president Omega Sibanda argued that the two-month period when the association was not run by the former leadership, after their mandate had been revoked, leaving the then chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze to shepherd the game, also has to be factored into the equation when calculations of the executive’s four-year term of office are made.

Even if a crash programme was adopted to have elections for the ZIFA executive before or on March 27, argued Sibanda, FIFA’s new policy of having integrity checks on those who want to be part of ZIFA’s leadership could effectively spell doom for those who want to throw their names into the hat as challengers of the current administration.

The process, which takes considerable time, is either unlikely to be completed before March 27, which could shut out potential challengers given the current administration have already been cleared, or this could see FIFA coming into the picture and endorsing the extension of the election Road Map beyond March 27 with the current ZIFA leadership’s authority still being recognised by the world football controlling body.

Such a scenario is already playing out in Sierra Leone where lsha Johansen and her board remain in charge of the West African FA, six months after the scheduled elections after their four-year term of office was set to expire on August 3 last year.

The issue of integrity checks for potential challengers derailed the process and even after Johansen was later inducted on corruption charges, triggering a move by her executive to remove her from office, FIFA intervened in November by dismissing the allegations “as politically-motivated” and insisting they still recognised her as the substantive leader of the Sierra Leone FA.

Last week, FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura wrote to Sierra Leone Sports Minister Ahmed Khanou ordering him not to interfere in the Sierra Leone election Road Map and allow the organisation to “manage its affairs independently and without due influence from third parties.”

A number of court applications in Sierra Leone to try and bar Johansen, Africa’s only FA president, from exercising her role as the game’s leader in that country, on the basis her mandate expired in August last year, have failed to bear fruits for the applicants with FIFA reiterating she remains the bona-fide boss.

Twenty nine football leaders who took the SLFA to court over the polls have been banned from the game while FIFA have set next month — seven months after the scheduled elections — as the date for the next meeting of their task force, which is dealing with the election Road Map, in Zurich.

And, amid all the unfolding drama in domestic football related to the ZIFA polls, the FIFA leadership’s cosy romance with Chiyangwa should provide an indication to those ganging up against the Harare businessman that he — just like Johansen in Sierra Leone — is likely to get the backing of the global football leadership in Zurich if a stalemate emerges on the domestic front.

Chiyangwa was treated to a small party by some high-ranking FIFA officials, including the FIFA director of Association Members and development for Africa and the Caribbean, Veron Mosengo Omba, in Morocco on Saturday night to celebrate the ZIFA boss’ birthday. Chiyangwa turned 59 on Saturday and videos of his night out with the FIFA officials celebrating the occasion have emerged.

“The FIFA leaders woke me up and said come with us and they entertained me,” Chiyangwa told The Herald.

However, it’s probably the intensely personal letter from FIFA President lnfantino to Chiyangwa on Saturday which gives an insight into the special relationship that still bind the two football leaders even as the hawks at home gang up to try and claim the ZIFA boss’ scalp.

Infantino even wishes Chiyangwa lots of luck and success in his endeavours this year which, of course, includes retention of his position as ZIFA presidency.

“Dear Philip, on the occasion of this very special day, let me extend my warmest wishes to you for lots of luck, happiness, good health and success in the year to come,” Infantino writes.

“I sincerely hope you will be able to celebrate with your family and friends. Many happy returns of the day and kind personal regards. I look forward to seeing you again soon.”Infantino and Chiyangwa enjoy warm relations and the FIFA president was feted like a king as the guest of honour at a glitzy party in Harare last February when the Harare businessman celebrated his birthday.

A number of African football leaders also attended the party and some claim events that evening triggered the seismic chain of events which triggered the eventual toppling of Cameroonian strongman Issa Hayatou from his position as CAF president.