Zifa order PSL elections Twine Phiri
Twine Phiri

Twine Phiri

Petros Kausiyo and Eddie Chikamhi
TWINE PHIRI’S future as Premier Soccer League chairman was plunged into uncertainty yesterday after the new ZIFA leadership directed that the top-flight body should hold fresh elections to choose a representative for the top-flight body on the association’s board. Phiri has been PSL boss since 2010 when he swept to power with the CAPS United vice-president retaining his post at the 2014 elections after beating Dynamos president Kenny Mubaiwa.

But he was part of the ZIFA board led by Cuthbert Dube whose mandate was revoked by the ZIFA assembly at an extraordinary meeting at Prince Edward School on October 3. Women’s Football boss Miriam Sibanda also faces the same fate with ZIFA directing that her league also go for fresh polls.

Although Phiri and Miriam Sibanda were not directly elected onto the ZIFA board having come via their affiliate bodies, their status has in the two months been a subject of debate given that the association’s councillors had resolved that the entire board should be recalled when they met on October 3.

Following the revocation of the entire ZIFA board, association chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze was mandated to run the affairs of the soccer mother body until last Saturday’s election which ushered in Philip Chiyangwa as the new president.

Yesterday Chiyangwa chaired his board meeting after he addressed a Press conference, albeit, a brief one, at the ZIFA headquarters at 53 Livingstone Avenue. It was also the first time since 2009 that the ZIFA board was meeting at the association’s headquarters with most of the meetings have been convened at various venues.

It was during that Press briefing that Chiyangwa announced that the board had resolved that elections be held at the PSL, Women’s football, Eastern and Central Region and Masvingo province to choose substantive leaders.

It also emerged that the management changes at CAPS United had resulted in club board of directors chairman Lewis Uriri taking over the Makepekepe representative on the PSL board of governors.

Uriri who competed and lost in his bid to become a ZIFA board member at last Saturday’s election voted on behalf of CAPS United following indications that the Harare lawyer had been mandated to do so by the Green Machine’s president Farai Jere. But it is the announcement by Chiyangwa and his board yesterday that a new PSL representative has to be chosen who will join the board that has left Phiri battling for his survival.

The ZIFA board is currently short of a PSL representative and a Women’s Football leader for it to be complete. In addressing the media, Chiyangwa was flanked by his deputy Omega Sibanda board members — Edzai Kasinauyo, Felton Kamambo, Philemon Machana, Piraishe Mabhena, legal advisor Ralph Maganga and Mashingaidze.

Chiyangwa said Phiri lost the right to represent the league in the ZIFA Assembly following boardroom changes at the club when he is no longer the majority shareholder. “We have resolved to have elections at PSL in order to have a person who comes from PSL to represent them on the ZIFA board.

“The changes at CAPS United emanated from the fact that CAPS United football club has now been acquired by another person. That is the basis upon which the previous person used to become chairperson of the league,” said Chiyangwa. Chiyangwa also said elections should be held to choose a substantive chairperson for the Zimbabwe Women’s Football and Masvingo province.

The Eastern and Central Regions are also set for a new ballot as their chairmen Mabhena and Kamambo have been voted into the new board. “We have also ordered elections at the women’s league in order to choose a substantive chairperson. There will be elections in the Eastern Region because of the vacancy left by one of the board members here (Piraishe) Mabhena and in the Central Region because of the election of (Felton) Kamambo into the board.

“We also ordered elections in Masvingo who have no substantive chairperson,” said Chiyangwa. Chiyangwa said they want a forensic audit be carried by international firm KPMG to ascertain the long list of debtors before they roll out their plan to expunge the crippling debts which are in the region of $6 million.

The Harare property mogul, who is set to usher in a new governance style at ZIFA, also said they had agreed on several issues as a board including to cut down on staff within the local football governing mother body but was not at liberty to divulge further information on the subject.

“We will have an EGM sometime early next year to do some constitutional amendments. We have resolved as a board that we will have some staff rationalisation, in other words, we are chopping down on the number of staff at ZIFA.’’ The ZIFA board, however, retained the association’s judicial committees and tasked each of the new board members with heading different standing committees.

 Standing committees chairpersons:
Edzai Kasinauyo (referees/high performance), Philemon Machana (finance), Felton Kamambo (players status/technical), Piraishe Mabhena (competitions), Omega Sibanda (administration, beach soccer/Futsal), Mash Central province chairman Gilbert Saika (internal audit), PSL (sports medicine), Andrew Musengezi (disciplinary), Tawanda Chitapi (appeals), Francis Bere (ethics)

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