Zifa tighten screws on members, statutes

By Eddie Chikamhi

After weeks of incessant attacks during which their authority appeared to be challenged, ZIFA have directed that all the association’s members should fulfil their statutory obligations by registering their constitutions with the association to avoid any clashes.

ZIFA vice president Omega Sibanda yesterday told the media in Harare that it was imperative that all affiliate organs including clubs, lodged their constitutions with the association in line with the dictates of the soccer mother body’s statutes.

It is a statutory requirement that all affiliate bodies register their constitutions with the controlling body and ZIFA on their part also lodge their statutes with the Sports Commission and FIFA to ensure they are compliant with the two bodies. It is the same scenario ZIFA want to see prevail with their affiliate bodies.

Sibanda, flanked by board member finance Philemon Machana and the association’s communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela also maintained that ZIFA’s decision to intervene on the Highlanders elections was constitutional.

Although ZIFA later rescinded their directive to Bosso to defer their elective assembly, Sibanda said there was nothing unconstitutional about the association seeing to first clarify matters with their affiliate and putting on hold the Bulawayo giants’ elections.

Sibanda said affiliates should base their constitutions on extracts from that of ZIFA which supersedes that of any other football body in this country.

“We have our affiliates who should abide by the ZIFA constitution. “But as I said for long the constitution was being breached. When we came in remember the term was only two years and within two years we could not implement everything or else we were going to be labelled radicals or dictators who wanted to impose things.

“But what we addressed first was the issue of the debt and how we progress in view of the fact that we were declared insolvent. The other issues were going to be dealt with later as they were secondary.

That’s why we moved slowly so that people understand the constitution as we go including the registration of the affiliate constitutions to ZIFA. It’s in the process and we are working well with our congress. Further information is going to be discussed at the EGM and AGM.

“Our own constitution is an extract of the FIFA constitution, which is why we are saying our affiliates should have an extract out of our constitution.

Then that constitution will be handed over to the secretariat, executive and eventually ratified through the congress and then they can operate on their constitution. This enables them also to discipline their people according to their constitution.

“Now if somebody is disciplined by the affiliates he can challenge that disciplinary thing because the constitution is not registered. Our constitution is registered with SRC and FIFA. Theirs should be registered with ZIFA so that when there are matters of discipline, ZIFA can endorse through the congress,” said Sibanda.

Sibanda said the ZIFA constitution had been disregarded for long and the association is moving to get the affiliate bodies back on track. ZIFA also laughed off suggestions that they were flouting their statutes at will arguing that their constitution was grounded in the FIFA statutes which should cascade down to the affiliates.

“We have been following our constitution religiously. But if we are to implement what is written in the constitution we become very unpopular.

“Remember there was a letter that was written to Highlanders? For your own information that letter was very constitutional. But because things were not implemented in the past, it raised problems. Pick the ZIFA constitution and see how affiliates report to ZIFA. We as ZIFA are an affiliate of FIFA. If we don’t comply with the FIFA constitution we get sanctioned. So if we have got our affiliates who are not complying with our own constitution they get sanctioned also.

“The idea is not to persecute people, the idea is to make sure that constitutional matters are complied with. That’s all we are saying. But in view of the fact that the constitution was breached left, right and centre during the other era of the executive members we have to do it smoothly and understanding each other.

We don’t just bring radical implementation of the constitution because it might affect those who are not in the know.

“But all we are saying is we have indicated that there is a constitutional review committee which will then educate everybody else among the affiliates including our stakeholders on how the constitution works.

This is how we want to do things, we don’t want to be radical. But those so called radical things are constitutional. Go and read our constitution,” Sibanda said. The Herald