Chronicle Editor
Petros Kausiyo, Harare Bureau
THE Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) have moved to clear the last of the legalities in their progressive engagement with Fifa by lifting their suspension of the Zifa board, ahead of Zimbabwe’s expected return to the global football family this week.
Fifa, who have been working closely with Caf and Cosafa in their engagement with the SRC are set to announce the end of the suspension of Zimbabwe from international football, which has spanned nearly one-and-a-half years. Apart from lifting Zimbabwe’s suspension, the world football governing body are also set to unveil to Normalisation Committee, that will oversee the Zifa reforms and prepare the groundwork for the staging of elections across all levels at the troubled association.
It has emerged that Fifa, who last week dispatched another delegation to Harare, have since introduced members of the proposed Normalisation Committee to the Sports Commission.
Fifa head of development programmes in Africa Solomon Mudege who has been the international federation’s point man on the Zimbabwe issues over the years, Gelson Fernandes (Fifa director Member Associations Africa) and Cosafa and Angola Football Association president Artur de Almeida e Silva made the trip to Harare for another series of meetings with the SRC.
The SRC on their part had on June 29, written to Felton Kamambo and his board advising them of their decision to rescind the November 16, 2021 suspension they had imposed on the Zifa executives. They copied the communication to Fifa, clearing the path for any legalities that could have emanated ahead of the imminent installation of the Normalisation Committee. This also comes as the term of office of Kamambo’s board that was elected in December 2018, had expired.
Kamambo and two other members — Philemon Machana and Bryton Malandule — had also during their SRC suspension, been recalled by the Zifa Congress via an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on April 23, 2022, with Gift Banda then being appointed acting association president.
Although Fifa and the Sports Commission have steadfastly kept a light lid on their deliberations, sources close to the goings on in the engagement process told our Harare Bureau that every member of the Kamambo board had received the communication from the country’s sport regulatory body.
“After sending another three-member delegation to Zimbabwe, Fifa should now be communicating their decision on Zimbabwe on Monday or latest Tuesday. In the meantime the SRC have rescinded their board resolution of 16 November, 2021, suspending the Zifa executive committee. It has been rescinded because it (the suspension) has long been overtaken by two events which are the Zifa Congress of last year (EGM), and the lapsing of the tenure of the executive committee on 31st December, 2022.
“Fifa also requested for the rescission to be done so that it’s absolutely clear that there is no legal impediment to Fifa taking control of Zifa affairs through the Normalisation Committee in the event the suspension is lifted. All affected former Zifa executive committee members were notified of this development in a letter signed by the SRC Chairman. As you may be aware of by now, in the event that the suspension is lifted, Zifa will be run by a Normalisation Committee. Possible candidates for that Normalisation Committee were introduced to the SRC board last week at a dinner so it seems like all the major hurdles to this long and delicate and yet very necessary process have now been cleared,’’ added the sources.
Some of the ousted Zifa board members, while requesting anonymity, confirmed to our Harare Bureau that they had received their letters. The correspondence sent similarly Kamambo and copied to Farai Jere, Sugar Chagonda, Barbra Chikosi, Stanley Chapeta, Malandule and Machana read in part:
“Please be advised that in light of the outcome of the Zifa Congress of April 2022 and subsequent developments thereafter, we write to advise that the SRC resolution of 16th November, 2021, which suspended the entire Zifa executive committee including yourself, is now redundant and is accordingly rescinded. Our progressive and very positive deliberations with Fifa (and Caf) during the course of last year, and more particularly during the course of 2023, have resulted in the adoption of this position,’’ said the SRC.
Caf on their part have also added both anxiety and excitement to the domestic football family after provisionally including Zimbabwe ahead of their 2026 World Cup African Zone qualifying draw scheduled for Cotonou, Benin on Wednesday. Zimbabwe’s Warriors will be in Pot 4 when the draw is done and they will in the same lot with Mozambique, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Malawi and Libya. The World Cup qualifiers would then start in November.
There had been hopes that the Zimbabwe matter would be resolved earlier in time for the Warriors to gatecrash into the 2023 Cosafa Cup party. But the six-time Cosafa Cup champions will now have to wait for next year, to mark their return to the Southern African competition as this year’s tourney is already in full swing, having burst into life in Durban on July 5.
@petrospablo1
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