Warriors star Munetsi prays for ZIFA, SRC resolution amidst FIFA ban
France based Warriors midfielder Marshall Munetsi has revealed he is praying for a swift resolution between the SRC and ZIFA following their ongoing tumultuous hostility.
Munetsi’s remarks come after the feud between the two organisations recently plunged Zimbabwe into a distressing FIFA ban.
The ban which saw Zimbabwe lose all its membership rights with FIFA as of the 24th of February until further notice was announced last week on Thursday.
It was authenticated by the FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura in a letter addressed to the suspended ZIFA Chief Executive Officer Joseph Mamutse.
The suspension means Zimbabwe are no longer eligible to participate in any international football activities until the dispute between the suspended ZIFA board and the defiant SRC has been resolved.
In reaction to the ban, Munetsi took to his Twitter account on Wednesday evening to express his disappointment.
He also said he prays the involved parties reach common ground in order to persuade FIFA to lift the ban.
“The ban on our national teams from international football and our local teams from international cup competitions is quite sad. l pray the parties involved can get to a resolution quickly so that we can get back to playing international football soon.
“And the decisions made will in fact pave a way for better running of our football,” the ex-Orlando Pirates player tweeted.
“Football has since evolved into a sport thats more than just a sport, many livelihoods now depend on it, its a source of hope during tough times.”
The Stade Reims utility player believes that football as a sport was meant to unify people with differences to resolve their disputes amicably rather than fighting.
“Football is a uniting table where people with differences can sit together and feast at the spectacle we call the beautiful game,” he added.
The Zimbabwean international further bemoaned the situation, highlighting that it will be a one way ticket to the wilderness for the country’s budding footballers unless both the SRC and ZIFA sorts out the messy.
“Its has been 2 years without any meaningful development on the local football scene due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result of that we stand to lose a young generation of talented footballers who now have to resort to other means of earning because football has been in limbo.
“As we were now getting back into some sort of cautious normalcy as we try to emerge from the effects of COVID-19 in our football, our beautiful nation gets struck by a ban on international football, our football stands to lose quite a lot for many years.”
Initially, to do away with the suspension, FIFA ordered the SRC to comply with certain conditions including reinstating Felton Kamambo and his led suspended board members.
However, the call seems to have fallen on deaf ears as the SRC with the assurance from the county’s Minister of Sports Kirsty Coventry remain adamant over their decision to permanently get rid of the affected persons.
The suspended ZIFA board members were thrown out of the office owing to a chain of allegations including sexual harassment and corruption among other issues. Nehanda Radio
