Asiagate to be finalised in April

Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede yesterday told the Parlia­mentary portfolio committee on the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture that the issue had taken longer than expected but was confi­dent that everything will be com­pleted in the next month.
The Zifa committee was estab­lished in October last year.
Over 100 players and officials have been fingered in the scandal which unfolded between 2007 and 2009 and were suspended from taking part in national team duties until they were cleared by the committee.
Zifa were summoned to appear at the parliament yesterday to make pre­sentations on the progress made to date in the Asiagate saga and the gen­eral state of the game in Zim­babwe.
The committee, chaired by David Chimhini, wanted to know why it was taking long for Zifa to close the chap­ter on the issue and what cost the nation suffered as a result of the scan­dal.
Gumede, who was accompanied by the Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze, referees’ representa­tives Tendai Bwanya and Ngoni Buoyed said Zifa were doing all in their power to see the resolution of the matter.
The Premier Soccer League and the Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Associa­tion also made their presentations on Asiagate and the general state of foot­ball in the country, which painted a gloomy picture on the current state of affairs.
But Gumede said the committee led by Justice Ebrahim has made big strides toward the conclusion of the investigations.
“The committee is almost through and as I speak right now they have interviewed close to 90 percent of the people.
“Fifa is very concerned and last year they sent an official to find out facts about this issue (Asiagate).
“They are worried so much that they have sent someone to do the fol­low up. I was in Bulawayo at the week­end and they were interviewing play­ers from FC Platinum.
“This is not a Zimbabwean issue alone but it’s a worldwide problem for which Fifa is looking forward for a report from the committee set up by Zifa.
“The committee will mete out what­ever punishment they deem fit. So once the Zifa board looks at the rec­ommendations from the commit­tee we will immediately pass it to our superiors who include the Sports Commission and the Ministry of Edu­cation Sports and Culture.
“Fifa have said that whatever form of punishment we mete out they will support.”
Zifa had set March 31 as the dead­line for the committee to finalise their investigations but due to the complex legal procedures they could not finish on the appointed time.
Gumede said the Asiagate scandal has become a complex matter and charged that Zifa were not getting enough support from the police and the parent ministry in dealing with the issue.
“Asiagate was corruption at its high­est level. Most of the things were done clandestinely.
“It was noted that some among the people interviewed to date some, espe­cially those who participated in one or two games, didn’t even under­stand what was happening and did not ben­efit anything while others admitted getting up to US$3 000 from the same games,” said Gumede.
Gumede said the punishment will vary with their levels of participation.
He said those whom the committee deem were used as pawns may get away with a lenient punishment such as a reprimand while others may be banned for two to three years depend­ing on their participation.
“Some may be told to stay away completely from the game and try something else at the casinos where they will make more money,” said Gumede.
Zifa chief executive Mashingaidze said the image of the domestic game has suffered greatly from the after-effects of the Asiagate scandal and added that the association’s efforts have been frustrated greatly by those fingered in the corruption saga.
He also said Zifa was left with a huge debt of US$2m and are cur­rently sitting on a US$1m lawsuit from inter­national sports organisa­tion Kentaro over the deal to bring Brazil national team to Harare in 2010.
“Over the years Zifa has received a battering over incompetence and such issues as the Asiagate scandal. As such no-one wants to put his money where people are paid to sell games.
“It’s unfortunate that there were some people who were benefiting from the bad situation. And when we came in and try to introduce order there was noise from the jackals against us. It’s so sad to see the Mafia-style intimidation to try to muzzle the members of the association who are doing the investigation.
“We are asking for protection first from the ministry and the police if we are to pursue this case to its conclu­sion.
“It’s even sad that there are some who are coming out boasting that they are untouchable and as a result we have been reduced to sitting ducks. As you know sitting ducks cannot do anything.
“Right now we are sitting on a debt of US$2m dating back to 2007. This is based on services provided and some of which were not provided at all or with inflated receipts.
“For example we had a high profile match against Brazil and the stadium was full to the rafters but surprisingly we were left counting the losses while some clever people went smiling all the way to the bank.”