The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Normalisation Committee (NC) has praised disqualified Benjani Mwaruwari and Gift Banda for approaching the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) following their recent disqualification from the lists of eligible candidates set to contest in the upcoming ZIFA elections set for later this month.
Mwaruwari and Banda who wanted to contest for the president and vice president posts respectively, failed to pass the eligibility test with reports suggesting they both don’t have the required five O levels or equivalent.
The two challenged the decision by taking the matter to the CAS, a move that has been applauded by the NC, who say it aligns with the ZIFA statutes.
“We applaud Benjani and Gift Banda on their willingness to comply with Zifa Statutes and procedurally challenge their ineligibility at CAS and we are co-operative in our approach and will ensure the process remains as transparent as possible and will respect the CAS verdict when it comes.
“We are working closely with our external Counsel to ensure we respond within the stipulated dies induciae of two days and will be following closely the CAS proceedings.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we received the CAS application on Monday afternoon the 6th of January 2025,” the ZIFA NC wrote in a statement.
The committee’s praise of Mwaruwari and Banda comes after it criticised another disqualified candidate Prophet Walter Magaya who filed a challenge with the High Court.
According to the ZIFA statutes, filing with the High Court is unconstitutional.
