By Tichaona Sibanda
The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is ready to hand out substantial bans to several players, coaches and officials for their respective parts in a match-fixing scandal that has rocked the country. A source in Harare told SW Radio Africa on Thursday ZIFA was waiting for the Sports and Recreation Commission to go through their report before taking any action.
“I believe anytime soon ZIFA will announce the course of action it will take to punish those involved. There is also added pressure from FIFA (the International Football Federation) for the local controlling mother body to take action against those that shamed the local game,” the source said.
A recently concluded investigation by ZIFA found out that national team players were paid to lose matches by an Asian betting syndicate in December 2009. The scandal is the biggest corruption case to rock Zimbabwean football since independence.
The allegations of match fixing centre on a tour where Zimbabwe lost 3-0 to Thailand and 6-0 to Syria. The report also said money was sent from the betting syndicate to ZIFA chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya. Rushwaya is currently on suspension for her role in the tour. Jonathan Musavengana, ZIFA’s programmes officer is also accused of receiving a bunch of US dollars from a representative of the syndicate.
Commenting on the scandal, Dynamos legend Memory Mucherahowa said the match fixing claims have done permanent damage to the country’s most popular sport. The former long serving ‘Dembare’ captain says he is one of those who believe those in charge of football in the country must act decisively to prevent it ever happening again by imposing the harshest penalties possible against any player found guilty of corrupting the game.
“I’ve been involved with this game for over 30 years now and what I see happening in Zimbabwe is a disaster to say the least. To an extent you cannot blame the players because they were pushed to do it. But as a deterrent they should be punished to send a strong message to others that match-fixing is as good as fraud and is unacceptable in football,” Mucherahowa said.
He added: “This is why I advocate penalties and the strongest deterrents. To me, anyone found guilty of match-fixing should be banned depending on the part they played.”
“They shouldn’t be too harsh on the youngsters though because they were pushed into it by greedy ZIFA officials,” Mucherahowa also said. “I’m happy these officials have been sidelined for now and should not having anything to do with football forever.”
There have been various allegations made about match fixing over the years, with most of the more recent claims involving Far Eastern betting syndicates.
