New CEO for Zifa

Petros Kausiyo, Harare Bureau

ZIFA are set to have a fresh face at the helm of the secretariat by mid-October, amid revelations that the Normalisation Committee in charge of the football association have completed interviews for a new chief executive.

The troubled domestic football mother body has been without a substantive secretary-general, commonly referred to as chief executive officer (CEO) for over two years since Joseph Mamutse was initially suspended by the Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC) in 2021.

Mamutse, suspended together with then SRC director-general Prince Mupazviriho was then reinstated but he never resumed his duties as he got entangled in the boardroom battles between the Felton Kamambo’s Zifa board and the sport regulator.

He chose to stay with Kamambo until his Zifa contract lapsed on August 31, bringing to an end a forgettable era in the administration of the country’s biggest sport.

Normalisation Committee chairman Lincoln Mutasa told the Sunday Mail Sport yesterday that they had spent the better part of last week conducting interviews for the vacant CEO’s post.

Mutasa said they are now looking to have the successful candidate assume duties inside the next fortnight although they had hoped to have the CEO in place by October 1.

“Yes, we have been conducting interviews this week. We short-listed some names and then we invited people for the interviews,’’ Mutasa said.

Mutasa also said they had left room for another round of interviews should it emerge from the results that there is a tight race for the post.

“After the interviews we will now look at the results and if it is a tight race, we will go back to the candidates and ask those topping to come back and make some presentations and we hope that next week we can be able to sit down with the successful candidate and table our offer and negotiate the package.

“It is not always that the successful candidate will accept the offer but we hope he or she will accept what will table and in the event that there is no agreement, we then go to the next successful one.

“We had wanted the CEO to be in place by 1 October 2023 but we also got bogged down with arranging the matches for the Warriors and the Mighty Warriors.

“But we hope that depending on the notice period he or she may require the candidate will be on board in the next two weeks’’.

The former Dynamos chairman, however, declined to reveal the names of those, who had been short-listed nor those, who had put their names into the hat for the post.

But sources close to the goings-on at Zifa revealed that four candidates from a long list that also included the association’s ex-chief Jonathan Mashingaidze had expressed interest.

In the end Mutasa and his committee, who include his deputy Cynthia Malaba, lawyer Nyasha Sanyamandwe and his fellow former footballers Sikumbuzo Ndebele and Rosemary Mugadza are understood to then have settled for the quartet of Owen Mugwagwa, Ngezi Platinum Stars’ Yvonne Mapika Manwa, Liberty Maidza and Violet Jubane of Premiership newboys Sheasham.

Jubane, the sources also said, appears to be the front-runner and could be the second female Zifa chief executive after Henrietta Rushwaya, as she is understood to enjoy alleged backing of Fifa head of development programmes Solomon Mudege.

Mudege has reportedly hand-holding the Normalising Committee, as they go about the arduous task of reforming Zifa, who have fallen far behind other associations in the region and the continent at large in terms of developing football.

“It seems to be a close race between Sheasham CEO-cum administrator Violet Jubane and Liberty Maidza who is a former president of the Zimbabwe Universities Sports Associations and once served on the Zifa Mashonaland Central board,’’ the sources said.

After their false start in which they failed to confirm with Cosafa on time for the Warriors to take part in the 2023 competition, the Normalisation Committee are this time sending the Mighty Warriors to the Women’s Championships, scheduled to start on Wednesday in Gauteng.

 They also finally sorted the Warriors technical set-up when appointing Highlanders’ expatriate gaffer Baltemar Brito as senior national team coach, at least for the initial duration of their tenure at Zifa, which is expected to end in June next year.

But as they look to appoint Mamutse’s replacement, the Normalisation Committee, would also have to brace for what is potentially a bruising battle with the experienced and senior secretariat trio of chief operations officer Xolisani Gwesela, national teams’ general manager Wellington Mpandare and technical director Wilson Mutekede.

Mutasa’s committee dissolved the trio’s posts from the Zifa set up and through Fifa must now pay the golden handshakes for Gwesela, Mpandare and Mutekede.

Although the trio has largely kept their cards close to their chests, it is understood that they have told Mutasa that “they have no qualms with leaving Zifa as long as their terminal benefits are paid in terms of the contracts which they have with the association.’’

Zifa has a poor history with creditors including ex-employees, who are still owed money and Gwesela, Mpandare and Mutekede have been steadfast that they would not want to add their names to that long list. 

And given that their exits have been orchestrated from the Fifa offices, the world football controlling body would be expected to settle their severance packages during the tenure of the Normalisation Committee.