Zimpapers Logo

Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

THE ZIFA office yesterday wasted no time in approaching the Sports and Recreation Commission to update the national sports regulator on the resolutions from the Extraordinary General Meeting that booted out the association’s former president Felton Kamambo and two board members.

The association’s spokesperson, Xolisani Gwesela, confirmed they had formally written to the Sports Commission.

ZIFA are seeking to mend the bridges between the association and the national sports regulator which had been strained for many years, leading to the suspension of the board led by Kamambo in November last year over a series of misdemeanors.

The ZIFA Congress is pleading for the lifting of the suspension imposed on the board as well as that of chief executive officer Joseph Mamutse, so that the football family can complete the internal processes of cleansing Zimbabwean football that they have put in motion. The Congress also want the Sports Commission to assist in the lifting of the FIFA suspension.

Gwesela could not give more details about the contents of their correspondence to the Sports Commission but was hopeful the two organisations will find common ground.

“We have notified the Sports and Recreation Commission on the outcome of the EGM that was held at the weekend. What we are waiting for now is the response from them and this will determine the next step,” said Gwesela.

The members of the ZIFA Assembly took it upon themselves to restore sanity in the game when they called for the EGM, as provided for by Article 28(2) of the association’s statutes.

The EGM, which was attended by the majority of the Assembly members, resolved to recall Kamambo and two board members Philemon Machana and Bryton Malandule.

The councillors retained the rest of the executive committee, including Premier Soccer League and Women’s Soccer League chairpersons Farai Jere and Barbra Chikosi, respectively, as well Sugar Chagonda

Gift Banda, who was the bona fide vice-president of the association before he was swept aside by the boardroom politics, returned as the acting president.

The highly-anticipated EGM was presided over by ZIFA lawyer Chenaimwoyo Gumiro and had 45 of the 58 Congress members in attendance.

Although all members of the board that was suspended by the Sports Commission were invited to answer to charges levelled against them, Kamambo, Machana, Malandule and Stanley Chapeta were conspicuous by their absence.

But that did not stop the meeting from proceeding. During the same indaba, the trio Jere, Chikosi and Sugar Chagonda were afforded the opportunity to respond to charges against them.

They were resultantly spared the axe. ZIFA vice-president Banda, whose controversial suspension by his colleagues in the board had been lifted a month before the Sports Commission banned the Kamambo board, also survived the chop.

The ZIFA Congress was clear on its objectives with 43 councillors out of the 45 that attended voting in favour of Kamambo’s ouster. The former ZIFA president was facing a litany of charges, including abuse of Covid-19 relief funds and breaching the association’s constitution on several occasions.

There was one spoiled ballot on the vote to recall Kamambo, while one delegate stuck with the beleaguered Harare executive.

Machana, the board member in charge of finance and widely regarded as the de facto leader of the association before the SRC suspension, was recalled by a 44-1 vote.

Two delegates had tried to back board member (development) Malandule, but, in the end, the man facing charges of sexually abusing female referees was sent packing by a 43-2 vote.

With Banda, Jere, Chikosi and Chagonda spared, the Congress ensured ZIFA would continue to be led by a duly-elected board as the quartet is enough to make a quorum.

Banda said mending relations with key stakeholders was key in restoring sanity to Zimbabwean football.

“The confidence given to us by the councillors, who are the custodians of the game, should be repaid by making sure that we selflessly serve football.

“What will be key is to bridge differences with key stakeholders, who are the councillors and Government through the SRC. We must make sure that football becomes the winner as we pull towards restoring our football,” said Banda.

However, the board remains suspended by the Sports Commission. They are hoping the suspension will be lifted while solutions continue to be found.

Zimbabwe are also under FIFA suspension after the World football governing body raised the red flag over the Sports Commission’s interventions as “third party interference.”

The FIFA suspension is threatening the Warriors’ participation in the upcoming 2023 AFCON qualifiers. The world football governing body have said the Sports Commission needed to reverse their decisions, by reinstating the ZIFA board, and giving assurances they will not interfere with football administration, for the FIFA suspension to be lifted.