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Deputy Minister Tabetha Kanengoni-Malinga

Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT has reiterated that ZIFA is suffering from a serious leadership crisis, with those in charge of the beleaguered Association failing to discharge their mandate to lead the country’s biggest sporting discipline.

This comes against a backdrop of the raging chaos that has stalked the Warriors’ preparations for the opening tie of their 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers against Malawi scheduled for Blantyre tomorrow, while the team’s banishment from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers is yet to be resolved.

The Warriors refused to board the plane, which was scheduled to fly them to Malawi yesterday, after a spectacular fallout between the players and the ZIFA leadership over allowances, bonuses and match fees.

Some ZIFA Councillors have been battling to revoke the mandate, which was given to the Association president Cuthbert Dube last year to lead domestic football for another four years.

The Councillors feel that Dube has failed to discharge his mandate of leading of ZIFA.

Government yesterday said it will soon institute a Commission of Inquiry into the ZIFA affairs, amid allegations of financial mismanagement by the Dube-led board.

Sport, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Tabetha Kanengoni-Malinga revealed this during Senate’s question-and-answer session yesterday.

She was responding to a question raised by Senator Chief Musarurwa.

“We have heard so many negative news on the management of local football ranging from issues to do with financial mismanagement, the national soccer team being banned from participating in the forthcoming World Cup due to debts and the general decline of standards of local football,” Chief Musarurwa said.

“We want to know what the policy of Government is with regards to management of football.”

Kanengoni-Malinga acknowledged that there were deep-rooted problems at ZIFA.

“At the moment we have a problem with the leadership that is there at ZIFA because they are failing to manage football properly,” Kanengoni-Malinga said.

“FIFA regulations make it difficult for Government to directly intervene in the affairs of ZIFA.

“As you may be aware, FIFA officials came in May and told us about the ZIFA debts, including that to former coach Valinhos, which resulted in our ban from participating at the 2018 World Cup.

“Working through the Sport and Recreation Commission, we are going to put a Commission of Inquiry in place to look at the ZIFA books and see what is happening there so that we come up with a position and consult FIFA on the way forward.”

She said Government was also waiting for the outcome of ZIFA’s extra-ordinary and annual general meetings.

Dube’s fate could be sealed at the extra-ordinary meeting, which has been set for June 20, with defiant Councillors insisting that the time has come for them to revoke the ZIFA president’s mandate to keep leading domestic football.

Last month the Councillors revoked Dube’s mandate, but FIFA intervened and kept him in his job.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association yesterday said they have been cleared by the police to stage a demonstration in Harare tomorrow calling for Dube to step down from his position as ZIFA president.

Eddie Chivero, the ZNNSA leader, said the protest will start at ZIFA House tomorrow morning and the protesters will march to Dube’s Groombridge mansion.

“We have been granted police clearance to stage the demo and are going to Dube’s house, which seems to have become the new headquarters of our football, since that is where all the ZIFA meetings are being held. This is where Prince Ali, who wanted to be the FIFA president, went to meet him when the Jordanian came here and that is where even our Warriors went today (yesterday) to try and get a resolution to the issues that have been plaguing their camp,” said Chivero.

“We never get the chance to see Dube so we get to tell him our thoughts because he never comes to football matches and, therefore, we have no option but to take our demo to his doorsteps. Perhaps that is the only way he can understand that we are sick and tired of the way that he has been running our game.

“It’s a peaceful march because we believe that we have a right, as fans, to express our grievances over the way ZIFA is being run and Dube has failed. He should do the honourable thing, which is just to step down and let others who might have new ideas come on board and lead us.”