Plot to oust Phillip Chiyangwa

By Godknows Matarutse

Hardly a day after government had rejected the bid to dissolve Zifa and replace it with a new local football governing body — a new group led by veteran administrator Francis Zimunya — has come out gunning to depose the Phillip Chiyangwa executive.

Zimunya and his colleagues have been fighting to have the National Football Association of Zimbabwe (Nafaz) stopped from dissolving Zifa and becoming the new controlling body.

They got their wish on Wednesday when government announced it did not recognise Nafaz and that Zifa were the only bona fide football controlling body recognised to preside over the national affairs of the local game.

In a further twist to the Zifa saga, Zimunya and the group calling itself a Working Committee for the Re-establishment of Zifa said Chiyangwa and his executive were not competent enough to run local football.

Zimunya’s group consists of Zifa secretariat, creditors, football interest groups and/or stakeholders.

They are conducting their business from 53 Livingstone Avenue, the headquarters of Zifa.

“The meeting of June 4, 2016 convened by the former Zifa Executive Committee exposed their incompetence and shortcomings,” Zimunya said.

“Desperation could be seen in the manner in which the meetings were conducted and how the former leadership approached the courts seeking sequestration of the people’s association.

“Some offices were even roped into the fiasco without success. Those who dumped Zifa should never be allowed back into football.”

Zimunya claimed Chiyangwa’s executive ‘‘force marched’’ the Zifa Congress into dumping one of the oldest Football Associations in Africa and establishing a breakaway group, Nafaz.

“The Zifa Executive Committee and their 58 Councillors some of which owe Zifa large sums of money, and had no mandate from the Assemblies of their affiliate organs, chose to “revoke” their mandate to run Zimbabwean football under the Zifa banner,” he said.

No comment could be obtained from Chiyangwa who is said to be attending the on-going Euro 2016 championships in France.

On Wednesday, Sports minister Makhosini Hlongwane said the dissolution of Zifa was not in line with prescribed standards of the global soccer body, the Federation of International Football Association (Fifa).

Hlongwane said Zifa did not follow Article 77,1 of its own constitution.

“The attempted dissolution of Zifa and the attempted registration of a new football association has not been according to the Fifa advisory letter of April 21 2016 which advises wide stakeholder engagement and compliance with the Zifa statutes as well as the applicable laws of Zimbabwe,” Hlongwane said.

“There is one registered football association in Zimbabwe. That football association is the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa).National football teams will continue to participate in regional, continental and international competitions under the auspices of Zifa.

“Consequently, the National Football Association of Zimbabwe is currently not a bona fide football association in Zimbabwe.”

On June 4, at a special meeting at the Zifa village, Chiyangwa, his executive and ‘‘councillors’’ agreed to adopt a motion dissolving Zifa because of its debts which they said the association was not able to service.

Instead, they proposed to form Nafaz, distancing themselves from the mountains of debt they inherited from the previous executive of Cuthbert Dube despite Chiyangwa making a vow that he would clear all Zifa debts when he assumed office.

Zifa owes service providers and former employees including coaches an estimated $6 million.

Chiyangwa’s executive had also accrued debts at the time they decided to dissolve Zifa as, during their stewardship, Zifa had entered agreements with service providers such as Daisy Lodge to continue working with the association despite outstanding and overdue payments.

Fifa had advised Chiyangwa to follow and exhaust Zimbabwean laws before setting up Nafaz, revealed Hlongwane who read the letter from Zurich.

“It is important that all parties in the dissolution of Zifa comply with the applicable laws of Zimbabwe. That the dissolution is open and transparent and embraces all the relevant stakeholders who would be affected by the dissolution of Zifa,’’ read part of the letter written by Fifa.

“If it so desires, Zifa should be dissolved properly and conclusively before a new association is accepted by Fifa.”

Meanwhile, Harare magistrate Tendai Mahwe yesterday dismissed an application by ex-Zifa officials who were challenging their placement on remand.

Henrietta Rushwaya, Edzai Kasinauyo and Nation Dube had challenged their placement on remand arguing that Zifa, which was the complainant, no longer exists.

However, Mahwe said the three were justified to continue coming to court over the charges.

“The accused individuals cannot be heard to say that they have been on remand for a long period of time, it has only been two months and it’s reasonable considering that the state has pending extra-territorial investigations to pursue,” Mahwe said. Daily News