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Rushwaya, flanked by her lawyers Jonathan Samkange and Dumisani Mthombeni, told a media conference in Harare that she had not been amused by Zifa claims that she had met with Warriors striker Knowledge Musona and midfielder Ovidy Karuru on Tuesday afternoon.
Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze on Tuesday evening claimed the pair of Musona and Karuru were spotted by their intelligence officials at premises which house Rushwaya’s offices in Harare and they had since alerted the technical department of the developments.
The association accuse Rushwaya and the association’s former programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana of being the masterminds of Asiagate.
Rushwaya, however, dismissed the allegations as false and instead threatened criminal charges and civil proceedings for defamation against Zifa.
Speaking through Samukange, Rushwaya also claimed that she was not at her premises at the time that these players were allegedly spotted entering and later leaving her offices as she was out of town.
“Firstly there is freedom of association, speech and movement. She had worked with these youngsters for many years, they are not enemies instead they are friends.
“It is appropriate for her or for the players to go and say ‘how are you mummy’ and others call her sister.
“There is no court order which prevents her from interacting with the players even if she had associated with them.
“There is nothing wrong with her talking to the players but in this case she did not even see them,” said Samukange.
Quizzed about Zifa’s stance to keep Rushwaya out of football matters until after the investigations being carried by the Ethics Committee are done, Samukange said it is not Zifa’s decision to do so since she had been cleared by the court.
“Zifa is not a police, prosecutor or a judge. Why are they not happy with the decision made by the court?” asked Samukange.
“If Cuthbert Dube has a problem with Henrietta that’s a personal problem and it should not become a national problem. If he has something against her that’s his own problem and it should not be her or players’ problem.
“But what we are going to do in response to this is to be very emphatic about it: we are going to do two things, that is filing criminal charges and civil proceedings for defamation with immediate effect.
“I hope those youngsters who are being named will do the same but on behalf of my client that’s what we are going to do,” said Samukange.
In her defence that she did not meet the players as being alleged by Mashingaidze, Rushwaya produced a receipt where she had her lunch out of town.
“I have a receipt where she had her lunch. We didn’t want to produce it because we didn’t want to pre-empt what we are going to do.
“We wanted them to keep on with their falsehoods so that we can catch them with their pants hanging underneath their buttocks,” added Samukange.
Mthombeni also added his voice saying those people who are tarnishing Rushwaya’s name are the only ones looking for a scapegoat from the Warriors failure in their recent World Cup qualifiers defeat to Guinea and the draw against Mozambique.
“The presumption of innocence is always attached to her because the investigations were done and the court confirmed she has no case to answer.
“If Zifa and the public are genuine, they should look at her as an innocent person and not continue persecuting her and making all these false allegations. We begin to suspect it’s personal differences and the whole nation is being taken for a ride as the association is trying to divert their failure to Rushwaya when she has no case to answer yet the nation should be addressed to the real issues why the national team is failing to perform.
“As a soccer fan, I would be quick to suspect that such allegations are being brought about up by people who don’t want the nation to criticise the association for the poor performance of the team. Instead, they want to divert their failure to Rushwaya,” said Mthombeni.
Rushwaya has dismissed claims that she interacted with the players and has distanced herself from allegations of match-fixing.
“I am not a match-fixer. I have been quiet for too long and it’s high time we show people that we have teeth and vicious teeth for that matter. We are proceeding with the court action and there is no going back. We are all Zimbabweans and we should live together as one people even the Bible says that if you read Psalm 37 verse 5.
“I did not meet anyone either from the current or previous national team. I had my lunch at Queen of Hearts around 2.30pm,” said Rushwaya.
Meanwhile, former Zifa Northern Region chairman Francis Zimunya added his voice to the current dark cloud that has instilled the national team and Zifa board.
Zimunya made an appeal to the football family to bury their differences and start working together as a united family for the good of the game.
“It is now imperative than ever before to close ranks and bury the hatchet so that we unite before it’s too late to save our football from further damage.
“I say this as a soccer legend having played, coached and administered football at the highest level. Zifa president Cuthbert Dube and the board should convene an all stakeholders meeting that include representatives from the current and former players, coaches, administrators, referees, sponsors and all responsible authorities to find the lasting solution to our problems killing our football.
“Dube and Zifa board are the custodians of football in our country and they are expected to be competent and be accountable to the people who entrusted them to run our football.
“It should also be known that Dube is not a sponsor and he has to stick to his duties and help our football improve,” said Zimunya.
Zimunya also encouraged supporters to come in their numbers and rally behind the senior national team when they face Burundi.
Online Reporter