The Sunday News
THE recent pronouncements by Sport, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Tabetha Kanengoni-Malinga that Government was ready to bear the brunt of the consequences of suspending the Zifa board might have come as sweet news to those opposed to blundering board led by Cuthbert Dube, but none have weighed the consequences of isolation by Fifa.
According to articles 13 and 17 of the Fifa statutes, member associations are empowered to manage their affairs independently without interference from Government and/or third parties and any meddling by Government attracts an automatic suspension from the world football governing body.
Although some people have been rubbing their hands with glee on the statements, few are yet to digest the full implications the ban will have on the local football landscape.
Several seasoned football practitioners who spoke to Sunday News this week said consequences of the ban should be discussed widely first before such action is taken. They felt that under the current circumstances, disbanding Zifa was not the best solution.
A seasoned football administrator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Zifa was going through a difficult phase just like any other sporting code in the country and that it was unfortunate only football was attracting attention by virtue of being the most popular sport in the country.
He said there was unnecessary pressure also from those who were entangled in the Asiagate fiasco, those who lost the Zifa elections last year and were using organisations such as the obscure Lifelong Footballers Trust, whose mandate was not clear where it emanates from, to ratchet up pressure against Dube.
Another experienced sports administrator said the Zifa ban would further erode the development of various aspects of football that included refereeing, will affect the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League teams, anti-doping programmes and junior development.
“The minute Zifa is banned any PSL club taking part in a Caf inter-club competition will be banned, in short, FC Platinum’s African safari will be immediately halted. We are complaining that our referees are failing to make it into continental competitions but if the country is isolated there will not be any development in that area and our standards are going to plummet further.
“Any country that plays friendly games with us, will face the same censure as Zimbabwe hence we would become lepers in the football world, hence there would be no way for us to measure how good our national teams would have become,” said the administrator.
He said Fifa would certainly be involved in any normalisation committee that would be formed and in any instances the world football controlling body usually insists that the previous board that was in place be reinstated before a country is admitted back into football.
Fifa would only accept a change in the suspended board only if the board members were found to have committed serious offences such as stealing of funds as was the case with the Cameroon situation, said the administrator who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“The irony of it all is that after the Government has suspended the Zifa board and Fifa has suspended us we are going to have to reinstate that same board for us to be accepted back into football. Dube and his board have not committed any crimes and were voted in only last year by football people from the lower structures, hence Fifa would not see any justification in their removal.
“Personally I think the ministry should focus on crafting a sports policy, at the moment we do not have an all encompassing sports policy that aides the development of sport overally in the country and this is where the ministry’s energies should be focused on,” added the administrator.
The recent change of roles of board members is another issue that has seen clashes within the Zifa board.
While board members previously had titles that allowed them to be involved in the day to day running of Zifa, now it is administrators who are doing the job and this has made the board members powerless.
“Look at the PSL, previously we had a board member responsible for fixtures but now that is being done by the administrators. Maybe the board members came with the old mentality now they feel short changed because they can’t make everyday decisions but even company board members leave the running of entities to administrators, why should it be different with football?” said the administrator.
Legal expert Ephraim Ndlovu feels Government should first give Zifa a helping hand before interfering in the football body’s affairs.
“Government are the major culprits as they have failed to fund football and maybe that is where they need to start. Zifa is not a parastatal nor do a Government entity and I wonder why the Government want to embarrass themselves by interfering in an organisation that has its own constitution.
“Fifa runs a system of self-regulation for the running of football meaning that in decisions taken on a purely football basis they have legal authority over national governments in this respect.
“In this instance, Government should respect Fifa statutes as they are sui generis in this respect,” the Harare lawyer said.
A Fifa ban would mean that the Warriors will not be able to compete in any international competitions and these encompass the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, 2016 Chan qualifiers, 2017 Afcon qualifiers, 2015 Cosafa tournament, international football events, friendly matches and future football events.
Youth teams from Under-13 to Under-23 and women’s teams of all age groups will also suffer a similar fate. Any development that players gain as a result of competing internationally would therefore be non-existent.
This means that the Young Warriors and the Young Mighty Warriors would be barred from participating in the 2015 African youth championship and all Africa games qualifiers with the latter set to commence in February for the men’s team and March for the women.
Coaches and other football personnel from Zimbabwe won’t be eligible to take part in seminars that Fifa and CAF hold in the region and globally throughout the year.
“Does Government have the capacity to resuscitate the bankrupt association when it has failed to do so in the past half-decade?” queried Ndlovu.
“Why should the ministry engage corporates to partner football when it is weighed down by a debt of close to $5 million for hosting the African Union Sports Council Region Five under 20 Youth Games in Bulawayo last year?”
