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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Women’s Soccer League will hold an extra-ordinary general meeting soon to plan activities for the year, newly elected chairperson Miriam Sibanda said yesterday.Sibanda dethroned Mavis Gumbo at the helm of the association in a closely contested election at the Zifa Village in Harare on Saturday, polling 22 votes to Gumbo’s 20.
Twalumba FC supremo Sibanda got a four-year mandate to change the fortunes of women football that had plummeted to its lowest levels with the Gumbo-led executive failing to run the Super League last year.
“We need to meet as a board soon and also have a formal handover-takeover so that we know where to start. We also need to have a formal introduction with the Zifa chief executive before coming up with a plan of action.
“One of the things that we have to do as soon as possible is to call for an extra-ordinary general meeting because I understand that no general meeting has been held in the last two years.
“The other thing that we have to make sure is that the NetOne tournament is finalised because I heard that the games were put on hold because of election. Now we are done with the election so the matches can be played,” Sibanda said.
Failure to ensure that the Super League kicked off in 2013, poor communication with clubs and lack of transparency regarding the Marange Resources sponsorship dealt a blow to the Gumbo-led executive.
Marange had unveiled a $3 million sponsorship package in early 2012 but there were unconfirmed reports of misuse of funds by Gumbo’s board which led to teams failing to get their prizes.
“Obviously clubs are looking forward to getting on the field and compete. We have to understand why the league was not played last year when people had paid affiliation fees. We have to round up our housekeeping early, get our act together so that we attract support from the corporate world and people in general,” Sibanda said.
Former Southern Region boss Elizabeth Langa who trounced Bulawayo compatriot Cecilia Mudzana by 30 votes to 11 deputises Sibanda.
Other board members are Inline Academy’s founder and secretary-general Trust Kwembeya who got 26 votes, Ben Mamoche (26), Cecilia Gambe (30) and Edwin Magoswongwe (21).
Rosemery Kanonge, Tsitsi Muzuza and former board member fixtures Felistas Tongogara failed to make it into the executive after receiving 11, 13 and 17 votes respectively.
Online Reporter