Fifa to release more funds for Zifa Village

approving an additional US$150 000 to help the troubled association complete the second phase of their Goal Project.
Successive Zifa boards have over the last 12 years struggled to take advantage of the annual Fifa grants meant for development since the inception of the Goal Bureau by the world body.

This has meant that Zifa have also lagged behind other countries on the continent such as Seychelles, Botswana, Namibia, Sudan and Zambia, which have utilised their Goal Projects to build centres of excellence, association headquarters and acquire more properties.
To their credit, Fifa have, however sought to give the current Zifa leadership, which came on board on March 27 last year, a chance to implement their vision and revive the association’s Goal Project at the Zifa Village in Mt Hampden.

It is against this background that Fifa this month had to waiver some of their stringent regulations to approve the release of an additional US$150 000 to Zifa, which they hope will assist the association to complete the much awaited second phase of their project.

The US$150 000 is over and above the US$400 000 which Fifa had last year approved for the same project that includes completing major refurbishment work at the Zifa Village and building of a new structure that includes an auditorium and a training field.

Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke advised Zifa president Cuthbert Dube of the world body’s approval of the association’s request for additional funding to complete the Goal Project.
Valcke said the US$150 000 was being released in advance from Zifa’s grant off the 2012 and 2013 Financial Assistance Programme.

“We acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 7 June 2011 in which your association is requesting an advance contribution of US$150 000 from the FAPO funds 2012 and 2013 in order to complete Goal Project II.
“In accordance to Article 3.7 of the Fifa Financial Assistance Programme regulations:

l Advance disbursement is only permitted within the four-year budget cycle and when these funds are being used for investment projects e.g. in combination with Goal Programme. The Fifa Finance Committee shall decide on any exceptions.

l “We would like to inform you that your request has been approved and that the transfer will be as follows: US$75 000 from FAP 2012, US$75 000 from FAP 2013.
“We would like to thank you for your collaboration and wish you all the best for the completion of this project,” wrote Valcke.

Dube yesterday paid tribute to Fifa development officer for Southern Africa Ashford Mamelodi for “being patient with us and yet working tirelessly to ensure that we complete Goal Project II and turn our focus to Phase III”.

The Zifa president said they had also engaged a team of architects who had designed a new structure for the Zifa Village that should take shape by the end of September.Dube said they were expecting to benefit from major cost savings once the Goal Project II was completed given that the Zifa Village, which is situated on the outskirts of the capital, will be a much improved lodging which the Warriors and various national and visiting teams can use for camping and training.

“They (Fifa) will now give us US$550 000 for the completion of phase II and next week a Fifa officer (Florie Ramakodi) will be in the country to finalise all the contracts with the contractors and Fifa will be paying the contractors directly.

“Once completed it will be a state of the art venue that will reduce the costs of camping for our national teams, we will no longer hire venues for assembly meetings and even board meetings will be held there.
“It will also be used a revenue-generating as it will be available for hire for PSL and other clubs as well as other organisations that may want to hold seminars at the venue.”There is a master plan for an existing structure and for an extension. The current structure has lots of defects but so far the contractors are doing a pretty job.

“Mamelodi has been coming here often and encouraged us and also supported us in Zurich even when Fifa were beginning to lose patience with us and could have taken away the Goal Project,” Dube said.
Mamelodi, who is based at the Fifa office in Botswana, has also pledged to make regular visits to Harare to ensure progress at the Zifa Village is not further stalled.