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DESPITE Fifa’s directive that issues around women’s football should be dealt with as a matter of urgency, Zifa haven’t restored sanity and the election date is set to lapse.
The women’s football elections were pencilled for this Saturday but it is clear that won’t happen since the election roadmap has not been put in place.
Women’s football has been operating without a substantive leader since April last year when Miriam Sibanda was suspended.
And when Fifa point person Ashford Mamelodi came here in September to meet several football stakeholders, he urged the association to quickly resolve women’s football problems. A parallel structure has been operating within the women’s football league with a splinter group labelled rebels organising their matches without the association’s blessings. They even threatened to withdraw their players from national duty until they get due recognition.
“For things like women’s football for example, I really don’t know why we should continue to have problems,” said Mamelodi.
“This one should have been nipped in the bud. Our view when the new executive came in, we made it clear there is a pending urgent matter. So, I mean, we request that the women’s football issues be addressed urgently because this doesn’t have anything with the debt, it is just about making sure that the women’s football fraternity is organised and they determine their leadership and go back to business.”
Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda reiterated last month that elections for women’s football will go ahead on October 22. But a week before the election date, there is nothing on the ground relating to the polls.
Yesterday, Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela said the electoral committee headed by Sello Nare is expected to sit this week to come up with a new date for the elections as well as the road map. The leadership vacuum in women’s football has been detrimental to the Mighty Warriors. They will participate at the Africa Women Cup of Nations next month in Cameroon from November 19 to December 3 but they are yet to get into camp.
Other nations have begun their preparations in earnest engaging in friendly matches while Zimbabwe, who are in the same group with the hosts, South Africa and Egypt, have only managed to meet the North Africans in a preparatory match.
Zifa have said they are still mobilising resources for the team to get into camp and Gwesela said by tomorrow they should be a having a clearer position on when the team will report into camp.
Online Reporter