Red flags in ZIFA audit report

Curtworth Masango

A NUMBER of red flags have been raised by the ZIFA audit report released by the Sports and Recreation Commission yesterday.

A significant sum of money, running into millions of dollars, is still to be accounted for as some irregularities still need to be explained by the association. The Sports and Recreation Commission have said they will work with authorities, including the police, to deal with areas where some fraudulent deals might have been struck.

SRC chairperson, Gerald Mlotshwa, also said they were not in a rush to engage FIFA to lift Zimbabwe’s suspension.

They will only engage them after proper corporate governance mechanisms have been put in place.

“We are not in a rush to go to FIFA and say lift the suspension. “FIFA are waiting to be guided by us, but we are not yet ready to do so.

“When we are ready, we will engage them. We have always said no pain, no gain.

“At least, the pain is in the short-term and the benefits are in the long-term.”

He added:

“Let’s do this when we still have the chance.

“This is the time to get our house in order. I understand some will be prejudiced, but these are decisions that will benefit us in the long term.”

Mlotshwa said they still want to first restructure ZIFA in a manner which will allow football to thrive as a sport and business.

“The FIFA position hasn’t changed. The lifting of the suspension is not a priority.

“Let’s get that out of our heads.

“Our priority is how long the process of restructuring will be.

“It isn’t an overnight process and we have already started. “We have the ZIFA audit report explaining bare what was wrong with the institution.”

He added:

“ZIFA had stopped looking into themselves, to renew themselves. “Let us all fix the game. When we are all happy, that’s the time to go back to FIFA and tell them we have corrected this.

“Let’s move away from the notion of thinking that everything we are doing here is for FIFA to lift the suspension.

“The intention is to fix the status of the game. That is the major priority of the game. 

“Football should be viable as a sport, means of recreation and as a business.”