On June 5, the Zimbabwe football fraternity woke up to news that the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) had been dissolved and in its place was the National Football Association of Zimbabwe (NFAZ) — an overnight decision which left Zifa employees and Zifa creditors in a state of shock.
INSIDESPORT BY MICHAEL KARIATI
The creditors and the employees were expecting a small payout from the proceeds of Zimbabwe’s highly attended Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Flames of Malawi, but were dribbled as they on payday on Monday found the gates at 53 Livingstone Avenue locked and no-one to attend to their outstanding payments.
However, whatever the reason was for the dissolution, the decision was cruel and did not show respect for the wholehearted contribution made by service providers and Zifa employees who stood with the association for over a decade during hard times — at times going for months, if not years, without being paid.
Legal expert Advocate Lewis Uriri, who is also the chairman of CAPS United Football Club, explained that there was nothing wrong with the dissolution of Zifa, but was straight to the point that the manner in which the process was done had an element of fraud.
This is unbelievable, basing on information that the important issue of the dissolution of Zifa was not part of the items on the agenda that was circulated to members of the Assembly for the meeting, only for it to pop up that evening.
Former Premier Soccer League chief executive officer Chris Sambo said, to his knowledge, those in the football leadership should have declared and surrendered Zifa assets to the Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC) before dissolving themselves. This has not been done.
What is even more interesting about the whole saga is that the entire Zifa leadership, including president Phillip Chiyangwa, his vice Omega Sibanda and the board members, remained in office, with the only change being that of the name of the association and the incorporation of Kenny Ndebele as secretary-general.
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This has raised suspicion that the decision was not a football or business decision, but was riddled with sinister motives driven by the Zifa assembly because of their excessive love for money to fatten their pockets.
It has always been argued that as long as this money-loving 58-member Zifa Council is in office, nothing good will come from Zimbabwean football.
And then there are praise singers like Eddy “Mboma” Nyatanga who go on to applaud the Zifa dissolution, forgetting that the “knife” has pierced through the hearts of the families of all the Zifa employees whose lives have been destroyed by the selfish ambitions of those in the football hierarchy.
If Nyatanga is celebrating that hundreds of Zimbabwean football fans have been left with no source of livelihood and nothing to start on, then which supporters’ constituency does he represent?
By the way, how many members make up this so-called Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association? It would be interesting to know what their understanding of the Zifa dissolution and the formation of NFAZ is.
Chiyangwa has come out in the open and declared that he was the brains behind the whole dissolution exercise, contending he could not operate in an association riddled with debts as his mandate was to bring success to Zimbabwean football.
Ironically, it is the same Chiyangwa who, during his election campaign at a local Harare hotel, told the electorate and major football stakeholders that his first step if elected would be to take care of the $6 million Zifa debt.
Standardsport has a recording of Chiyangwa’s speech at an event at Monomotapa Crowne Plaza where he repeatedly drew attention to his desire to clear the Zifa debt. So, what has changed now?
“What Zifa requires right now is someone who, first and foremost, would be able to ensure that the contracts signed by players are honoured [and] that they are paid in time. That the entire Zifa staff is paid in time and the debts which Zifa owe which are $6 million are settled,” he said then.
Ironically, his leadership has run away from paying those Zifa employees and settling those Zifa debts and is now playing hide and seek instead of being honest with those it owes.
It is good that the SRC has not yet registered this new football dispensation for there are a lot of things which need both explanation and clearance before such a federation can be allowed to join the Zimbabwean sports family.
The SRC should be strict in this regard because at the rate at which things are moving, it will not be long before there is another football association, this time the Association of Football Leagues of Zimbabwe.
When the NFAZ’s creditor’s tray reaches $1 million, see what happens next. Will they talk of yet another dissolution?
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