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NO CONTEST . . . ZIFA lawyer Ralph Maganga (right) says the association will comply with the provisional order issued by the High Court for them not to issue clearances for CAPS United players being transferred to international teams

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIFA have indicated that they will comply with a High Court order barring them from issuing transfer certificates for CAPS United players and hinted that they will advise the Premiership giants to resolve their impasse with the creditor they owe $55 000.

The High Court on Wednesday issued a provisional order barring CAPS United from executing transfers of their players to either local or foreign clubs until a determination has been made on a dispute between the club and Harare businessman Norbert Chawira over a loan advanced to Makepekepe.

In the same order, ZIFA, by virtue of being the custodians of the domestic game, were also barred from issuing clearances to CAPS United players.

Under the FIFA Transfer Matching System, ZIFA are now not only to handle the issuing of international clearance certificates but are tasked with keeping a record of every player’s movement.

Although they were not party to the deal entered into between former CAPS United president Twine Phiri and chief executive Joe Makuvire and Chawira, ZIFA were sucked into the court order because of their status as the soccer mother body.

The High Court order appeared to put ZIFA into a quandary given that complying with it would also mean the association would violate FIFA statutes in as far as they outlawed the influence of third parties in the transfer of players.

FIFA in their statutes state in Article 18b that:

“No club shall enter into a contract which enables any other party to that contract or any third party to acquire the ability to influence in employment and transfer-related matters its independence, its policies or the performance of its teams,’’.

In the event that this is not respected FIFA warns, “The FIFA disciplinary committee may impose disciplinary measures on clubs that do not observe the obligations set out in this article’’.

ZIFA lawyer Ralph Maganga, however, said yesterday that his association, although mindful of the FIFA Statutes, would first comply with the laws of the land arguing that the local soccer mother body was duty-bound to respect Zimbabwean laws first.

Maganga claimed that ZIFA had not been furnished with a copy of the full High Court provisional order by yesterday but insisted they would comply with the ruling while also offering an advisory role to CAPS United to strike a fresh deal with Chawira.

Maganga said ZIFA would advise CAPS United to urgently engage with Chawira’s lawyers to thrash out a fresh deal that would lead to the withdrawal of the High Court case.

The ZIFA lawyer said the association would be left with no choice but to comply with the High Court ruling arguing that FIFA were aware that their member associations operate within the confines of the laws of the land they reside in.

“I know that there was a decision granted against CAPS United but I need to have sight of the full judgment in order to advise ZIFA accordingly and when I checked with the ZIFA secretariat they had not been issued with a copy save for what we read in the newspapers.

“But from my experience in football matters, FIFA recognise laws of the country and FIFA statutes make it clear that whatever you do you must comply with the national laws and in this case ZIFA will not invite any FIFA sanctions by simply complying with the laws of the land.

“If it wasn’t a court order and ZIFA failed to observe the FIFA statutes then yes sanctions could be applied on ZIFA.

“It must be noted that certain FAs like ZIFA demand a transfer fee whenever players move but FIFA insists that you cannot withhold transfer certificates on the basis that the FA has not been paid a transfer fee.

“In some cases where the FA does not comply and issue the certificate, FIFA can take it upon themselves to issue that transfer certificate in the interests of a player.

“But in this case I think the ball is in CAPS United’s court, and I advise them to engage their creditors once again, sit down and work out a new payment plan and resolve the matter amicably and outside of the court orders,’’ Maganga said.

While the agreement may have been entered into with Phiri and Makuvire the main architects, the shareholding structure at CAPS United has since changed hands with Farai Jere now owning an 80 percent stake while Phiri, who is also a ZIFA board member and Premier Soccer League chairman, has 20 percent.