Zifa annual indaba today

assembly converge in the capital this morning for the first annual meeting of their four-year term.
Both the current Zifa board and the councillors assumed a mandate to run Zimbabwean football for the next four years after a series of elections that culminated in the voting in of Cuthbert Dube as president at Prince Edward School on march 27 last year.
Twelve months down the line, the board and the councillors will meet at a Harare hotel to review the first of their four years of service to football with a number of issues likely to dominate proceedings.
Chief among the issues that are likely to dominate the meeting is that of Zifa’s funding amid worrying revelations that the association is technically broke.
It has emerged that Dube has had to personally finance the salaries of Zifa employees after the new leadership failed to secure any major sponsorship in the last year.
With virtually nothing coming from the corporate world, Zifa have had to constantly send a begging bowl to the government for assistance with national teams assignments but that too has not yielded much success in most instances.
That has meant that Zifa have once again had to rely on their president to ensure that the Warriors flew to Bamako, Mali for their African Cup of Nations qualifier with Dube having secured US$200 000 for the trip. It is a worrying trend that out of a 13-member board, Zifa have to look up to Dube only for their operations while the Harare business executive has under his presidential assistance programme been giving US$500, every three months, to such Zifa affiliates like the such as the 10 provinces, Junior Football, five-a-aide, coaches association, referees committee, sports medicine committee, Women football, NAPH and NASH.
There are also worrying reports that some within the Zifa board wanted to mobilise the councillors to turn against Dube, after accusing him of using his influence to end the circus that had characterised the appointment of a national coach by naming Norman Mapeza the Warriors substantive coach.
But today’s indaba should focus more on the broader issues affecting administration of the game and the challenges they have faced in delivering on their election promises. It should present a platform for the men and the women in the leadership echelons to look at the contributions they have made and the ground they have covered in trying rebrand the association. Dube admitted that their first year in office has not been as smooth as they would have wanted but felt that their efforts to restructure and strengthen the secretariat would be a major step in introducing a business culture at 53 Livingstone Avenue.
“Among the challenges that our executive faced was the failure to have a proper hand-over, take-over with the previous board, the huge debts left behind by the previous administration and repairing our image after the Asiagate scam.”
Zifa this week resumed the second and possibly the final part of the probe into the Warriors’ trips to Asian countries for alleged match-fixing scams.
The Asiagate scam triggered a chain reaction and Zifa chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya was swept away from office and programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana fell by the wayside.
But as Ndumiso Gumede’s probe team resumed business they were also confronted with revelations that a letter purporting to be from the Kuwait Football Association had invited their Fifa panel referees – Ruzive Ruzive, Cosmas Chafa and Oswald Mukucha to take charge of an international friendly between Kuwait and Jordan in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The match was scheduled for last night.
“We are pleased to invite the following international referees from your association to officiate the following international friendly match: Kuwait senior national team versus Jordan senior national team to be played in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on 25 March.
“Kuwait FA shall undertake to send return air tickets (economy class) for Dubai-Zimbabwe and pay their daily allowances as per Fifa regulations, accommodation in first class hotel during the period for their stay,” read part of the letter signed by Saho Al Saho Al Shammari, Kuwait FA general secretary.
But away from the Asiagate, Dube also noted the need for Zifa to lure corporate support.
“We also need to woo back the corporate world, introduce a business culture at Zifa House and to meet the numerous national teams assignments,” Dube said.
The Zifa boss also noted that the corporate world was also still sceptical of doing business with the sport but welcomed the positive developments in the women’s game and the Premier Soccer League which have attracted sponsorship in recent months.
Delta Beverages through their Castle Lager brand will bankroll the Premiership for the next three years and Dube believes such a development presents the game with a platform to lure more partners.
“We are in talks with corporate partners and our PSL to date has landed a deal with Delta, a sign that the corporate sector is slowly coming back.
“We need to give Zifa a new face, make it a powerful brand and we will soon be rolling out our rebranding strategy that revolves around talk shows, conferences, merchandising and event management”.