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According to Ndumiso Gumede, a member of the investigating committee, the scandal is worse than the Asiagate shame.
The veteran administrator said this was a “Zimgate”.
Former Zifa president Wellington Nyatanga was the only board member fingered in the Asiagate furore with most being councillors, coaches and referees who later went into the board.
“Centralgate”, on the other hand, has seen two board members Gift Banda and Patrick Hokonya — chairmen for Southern and Central Zifa regions respectively — being implicated in the scandal.
Gumede’s team is investigating allegations levelled against a group of influential administrators known as “Elders” who were fingered in a match-fixing scam involving title chasing Hardbody and Tripple B of the Central Soccer League.
The scandal has seen former Fifa referee Cosmas Nyoni and Women’s Football League secretary-general Samukeliso Silengane being suspended.
Zifa vice-president Gumede said more referees with vital information would be interviewed.
The match officials want to clear their names and probabilities are high that this might just open a Pandora’s box and as they say, below the tip of the iceberg is the iceberg itself.
“There are a number of referees lined up who have volunteered to come and give more information. There is another dossier with the names of the so-called blue-eyed boys who were nominated to handle certain games. All these referees want to clear their names,” Gumede said.
Gumede said when he presented the report on behalf of the Zimbabwe Referees Committee at the Zifa Assembly, there were some councillors who were saying Nyoni’s testimony could not be trusted.
He said the same members also tried to have the ZRC committee dissolved in a bid to quash investigations.
The acting ZRC chairperson said Silengane was also given an opportunity to exonerate herself after Nyoni had been implicated but she broke down in the process, leading to the assembly taking a few minutes break as she collected herself.
“The assembly ratified Silengane and Nyoni’s suspensions and the committee I lead was asked to continue with the investigations. I want to state that I am not the one who suspended Silengane but it was a resolution passed by the members of the committee after Nyoni had been suspended.
“It was on the same grounds that Silengane was the match commissioner and faced the same accusations with Nyoni and since Nyoni had been suspended, the members felt that she should also be suspended,” said Gumede.
Gumede said his committee would expedite the investigations.
“It is critical that all these matters be dealt with before February next year. We do not want these matters to drag at the expense of the football fraternity.
“It is very much regrettable that we now have a Zimgate. All these things are not good for our soccer that had started attracting corporate interest. Such things chase away sponsors and potential sponsors and that is why we have to round up this matter soon,” said Gumede.
With the way things are going, more Zifa board members are likely to be sucked into this mess, with even dirty linen in their closets being washed in public.
In his letter addressed to the Zifa president Cuthbert Dube, Banda made shocking revelations, which might mark the beginning of worse things to come as people try to exonerate themselves.
“.. . . It might as well mean suspending, with all due respect, you Mr President, on allegations of vote buying for which witnesses are prepared to come up and present evidence on the allegations. It is at this turning point that those living in glass houses have been throwing stones,” Banda wrote.
The above statement might be in reference to the March 2010 elections when the Zifa board came into power.
Had it not been for the allegations of match-fixing dogging the Central Region, no-one would have known about the said vote-buying that happened prior to the Zifa elections.
When asked to respond to Banda’s allegations, Zifa president Cuthbert Dube kept on asking to be called later.
Meanwhile, embattled Hokonya yesterday deferred his response to allegations on medical grounds.
The former Zimbabwe Saints secretary had initially promised to respond to Chronicle Sport enquiries yesterday afternoon but had to defer. He is now expected to issue the statement today.
He spent the better part of the day shuttling between the Zifa CBD office, his home and his doctor seemingly confirming he has had a series of health challenges that have led to a series of collapses since the allegations were levelled against him.
Last Friday, Hokonya collapsed during the board meeting and was taken to Avenues Clinic by Premier Soccer League chairman Twine Phiri.
“My lawyers are handling the issue and we will issue a statement in due course. It will not be ready today (yesterday) as I had to see my doctor as well. I wonder why the same papers which published the allegations without seeking my side of the story now want my response,” said Hokonya.
The Zifa board member together with his Southern region counterpart, Banda, and Sithole were implicated by retired referee Cosmas Nyoni as the “elders” in a match-fixing scandal that has rocked the Central Soccer League.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter