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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

THE light is beginning to shine again on Zimbabwean football after the ZIFA Restructuring Committee made a raft of recommendations which include constitutional amendments and a call for the Government to take a more direct involvement in supporting the game as it gets back on its feet in 2023.

The nine-member Committee believes it has “executed on its mandate” and has since handed over its final report to the Sports and Recreation Commission for onward transmission to the relevant football authorities.

Speaking to The Herald yesterday, the committee’s chairman Blessing Rugara said his team finished its task well ahead of the deadline and had submitted their report to the Sports and Recreation Commission by December 23, 2022.

The committee was established in December 2021 as part of the strategic roadmap towards addressing the issues that have affected football management and administration in Zimbabwe.

They had been given until December 31, 2022, to complete their task.

“We have completed the task that was mandated us to do. I am sure there is a press release that is going to be made by the Sports Commission maybe tomorrow (today) or in the next few coming days,” said Rugara.

“The report is in three parts. The first part deals with presentations from the various stakeholders, then findings and recommendations. There are recommendations to the ZIFA constitution which is the primary impediment to Zimbabwean football, in our view.

“The committee exercised due diligence but there are obviously always challenges when you are trying to make changes to institutions such as ZIFA.

“There is a lot in the report as you shall discover once it is made public. Of course, I would be pleased to see the recommendations being implemented for the betterment of the game.

“We would also want to see the Government taking responsibility for football more directly so that the athletes get the level of support they need without facing impediments such as lack of funds when they go out there. That’s one of the major recommendations we made,” said Rugara.

Zimbabwean football currently is reeling under serious challenges of administrative nature, which resulted in the suspension of the ZIFA board by the Sports Commission in November 2021.

It got worse last year in February when ZIFA’s membership was suspended by FIFA on grounds of “third party interference”.

This meant that all the national teams were barred from participating in international competitions while the nation was also cut out from development programmes conducted by FIFA and CAF until certain conditions set out by the world football mother body were met.

But analysts yesterday noted that the release of the report by the Restructuring Committee was a giant step forward although it will take a lot to convince FIFA to readmit Zimbabwe into the family of international football.

“The hope is that all the matters will be resolved before the start of the new season of CAF and FIFA games, such as the draws for the next World Cup (2026) and AFCON (2025) tournaments.

“It’s not going to be easy though. FIFA have to be really convinced that things are coming back to normal in Zimbabwe.

“The good thing, however, is that the decision on the fate of Zimbabwe will not require the FIFA Assembly to sit again and make a determination. It’s something that the FIFA executive committee will deal with.”

The findings and recommendations of the ZIFA Restructuring Committee will help Zimbabwe address the challenges that have bedevilled football administration for many years.

This committee, made up of experts in various fields of administration, sports management, legal advisory and business management, was acting independent of ZIFA and the Sports Commission and had the autonomy to discharge the functions more fully as set out in its terms of reference.

It was appointed in line with the provisions of Section 21, as well as 19(b) and 20 (c) of the SRC Act to tackle issues of strategic nature in the search for solutions in Zimbabwe’s perennial football administration problems.

When the committee was appointed in December 2021, the ZIFA board had just been suspended on serious allegations which included lack of transparency with public funds, maladministration, bribery, vote-buying during election time and the sexual harassment of female referees.

According to the ZIFA Restructuring Committee terms of reference, the principal role of the Restructuring Committee was to review and recommend reforms in the administration of football in Zimbabwe in the following areas: the ZIFA constitution, ZIFA executive, junior football development, strategic plan, elections and forensic audit.

The Restructuring Committee’s final report is as crucial to the reforms as the forensic audit report that was produced by an independent audit firm recently.

Football is currently in dire straits following the suspension of ZIFA’s membership rights by FIFA. But many developments are expected in 2023 through the anticipated football reforms.

Upon the receipt of the final BDO forensic audit report as well as that of the Restructuring Committee, ZIFA are expected to convene an extraordinary general meeting of its members to consider the same.

Thereafter, the issues adopted during the EGM will form the basis of the Implementation Matrix, with times and deadlines for the discharge of agreed reform goals. This matrix will be made available to FIFA and CAF.

The country’s football governing body was left with a lot of soul-searching after a forensic audit carried by an independent auditor unearthed massive financial irregularities at 53 Livingstone Avenue.

The audit by BDO Zimbabwe revealed that ZIFA could have been prejudiced of over US$600 000 and over ZW$73 million in local currency during Felton Kamambo’s tenure. The audit covered the period between December 1, 2018 and November 30, 2021.

The forensic audit was one of the key undertakings by the Sports and Recreation Commission, through the ZIFA Restructuring Committee, to eliminate malfeasance and corruption in the administration of local football.

The ZIFA board is expected to table the two reports for discussion and adoption at their Annual General Meeting to be held on January 28.

The ultimate goal is to reboot the Zimbabwe football administration structures before approaching FIFA for the reinstatement of ZIFA’s membership that was suspended in April this year.