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Phillip Chiyangwa

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
Government have given their full backing to the birth of the National Football Association of Zimbabwe in a major boost for the process of dumping the crippled Zimbabwe Football Association which was choking in a sea of debt. ZIFA was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, weighed down by a mountain of debt in excess of $6 million, and the country’s football leaders last week formed a new organisation to run the affairs of the national game.

And, on Saturday, they received a big boost when the Government, through the Sports and Recreation Commission, threw their weight behind them and revealed that NAFAZ was now being registered as the governing body of domestic football. Sports Commission acting director general Joseph Muchechetere wrote to world football governing body to confirm the changes in the management of Zimbabwe football.

“This communication serves to jointly (Sports recreation Commission and Zimbabwe Football Association) confirm that the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has successfully filed a court application for Voluntary Sequestration and surrender of Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) with the High Court of Zimbabwe under case number HC 5941-16 in accordance thereto of the Insolvency Act Chapter 6:04 of Zimbabwe, in that ZIFA is unable to meet its obligations and debts and ZIFA cannot continue to exist,” the letter, which also bore the signature of NAFAZ president Philip Chiyangwa, reads.

“In this regard a MASTER’S CERTIFICATE was issued by the Master of the High Court of Zimbabwe dated 10 June 2016, therefore, the Sports and Recreation Commission of Zimbabwe, in line with the Sports and Recreation Commission Act Chapter 25:15 of 1991 will begin the process to strike the ZIFA from the register and consequently begin the process to register the National Football Association of Zimbabwe (NAFAZ) hereby represented by Dr Philip Chiyangwa as its inaugural president.

“In line with the Sports and Recreation Commission letter dated 4 June 2016, we hereby confirm that, ZIFA and ourselves as the sports regulatory body in Zimbabwe, have now resolved the issues amicably and are now fully committed to a mutual and beneficial resolution leading to a plausible future of football in Zimbabwe under the leadership of NAFAZ.

“It is in our interest to confirm that the Sports and Recreation, and on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe, will recognise NAFAZ as a national football governing body with rights, duties and responsibilities to affiliate to FIFA whilst international administrative processes are underway to confer the full status of a National Sport Association in line with the Sports Recreation Commission Act.

“In line with the above, the Sports and Recreation Commission and NAFAZ hereby duly request FIFA to accept the transmission of the membership rights within FIFA from the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) to the National Football Association of Zimbabwe (NAFAZ).

“We are committed, jointly, to keep on updating you on the developments regarding the full registration of NAFAZ. “We thank you for your kind attention to the above and trust that you will accept and act on our Zimbabwean position.”

Yesterday, Chiyangwa said the blessing from the Government of the changes in the management of football in this country was a “massive leap forward for us as we battle to sort out the mess that we found resident in our football and ensure that we open a new chapter that will see the game progress rather than die”.

The Harare businessman said they never doubted, after making consultations with their legal team, that they were on the right track and they would get the backing of the authorities.

“Obviously, the backing from the Government is big for us because we don’t operate in a vacuum in this country even though we have the full mandate to run the affairs of football here,” said Chiyangwa.

“We were always aware that we were doing things above board even though we knew that we will face resistance from some people who don’t want to see our football moving forward, who want to see the game collapsing for their selfish gains.

“We have a very good legal team that worked very hard to ensure that what we were doing was way above board and we are not retreating in our mission to ensure that we have a football governing body that Zimbabweans will be proud of which will help the game in this country to thrive so that future generations, not Chiyangwa, can benefit.”