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FORMER Zifa chief executive officer and secretary-general Jonathan Mashingaidze, who was recently handed a life ban from all football activities by the Phillip Chiyangwa leadership, has come out guns blazing.
He said local football has been reduced to some a�?village dug outa�? by football administration upstarts and opportunists.
Early last week, the Zifa board resolved to ban him for life. The decision now awaits rubber-stamping by the congress, which is the highest decision-making body.
Zifa communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela said in a statement that Mashingaidze should prepare to answer for alleged fraudulent activities that marred his tenure as head of secretariat, leading to the ballooning of debts from $600 000 to over $6 million.
According to a report released by the SRCa��s Commission of Inquiry in September 2015, it is also alleged that Mashingaidze could not account for $700 000, which the Chiyangwa executive are now pressing for with interest.
In a letter addressed to members of the Zifa Congress ahead of their aborted Annual General Meeting last Saturday, Mashingaidze blasted the councillors for being blind to issues such as corruption, mismanagement, incompetence, among others that have blighted the national association in recent times.
In his letter the former Zifa head of the secretariat makes damning allegations against Chiyangwa and his cabal, inferring that they are a group of miscreants taking advantage of the councillorsa�� blind loyalty to the man popularly known as a�?Captain Fiascoa�?.
a�?This letter serves to bring to your attention the tragedy that has befallen our game as a result of corruption, mismanagement, incompetence, selfishness, patronage and downright greed. I write this letter as a former Secretary General who was at the service of Zimbabwean Football since 2004 until my departure from 53 Livingstone Avenue on 26 April, 2016 after the current Zifa Executive Committee had found it difficult to work with me. I do not regret my departure from the game, I love it as I take it that one should give service to those who celebrate your contributions and at no point should one be tolerated for conveniencea��s sake. My departure from Zifa House has had me reflect on the state of football away from the madding crowd, and away from a demonic leadership possessed with greed, cruelty, self-aggrandisement, vanity and being the only centre of football in Zimbabwe,a�? reads the letter.
Mashingaidze fell out with the current Zifa leadership when the association decided against renewing his contract at its expiry, with the board arguing that he had failed to meet their expectations for the demanding job.
Zifa have also remained adamant that the association would not have been saddled by huge debts had Mashingaidze been more prudent during his tenure as head of the secretariat.
However, the former Zifa head of secretariat insists the associationsa�� supreme policy-making body should not allow itself to be used to sanction a�?illegala�� decisions meant to settle scores.
a�?You have watched, either in blissful ignorance or shameless complicity, Zimbabwean football being reduced to some village dug out by football administration midgets, upstarts and opportunists. Your last two years in office end on 31st March 2018 and beyond that, Zimbabweans shall remember some of you as the men and women who could not see, hear or speak evil of the madness that has dragged our football into a dark abyss. You have allowed self-serving individuals to mortgage the future of Zimbabwean football by not playing your statutory role, of giving strategic guidance to our game. In the Absence of the Zifa congressa��s stewardship, the Zifa Executive Committee got off the hook and went on a flagrant violation of the Zifa constitution and corporate governance principles with reckless abandon leaving our game in this current mess. Never in the history of the game have we had one individual and his hangers-on, defile our game to the extent that Zifa has been turned into a personal fiefdom,a�? continued Mashingaidze in his hard-hitting letter.
Mashingaidze also challenged the councillors to be vigilant ahead of the Zifa elections and guard against voting for leaders likely to drag the sport through mud.
a�?History shall judge some of you harshly, come March 2018 as principled and responsible men and women, shall be chosen to save the sinking Titanic. As you troop into Harare next week (sic), let it dawn on you that football shall hold some of you responsible for the gamea��s meteoric plunge into the depths of a dungeon of confusion and corruption. The millions of fans, valued sponsors, up and coming players, former employees, former players, former administrators, creditors and the generality of Zimbabweans shall hold you accountable for all the wrong things that have been associated with our game ever sinceA� the arrival of the current football leadership. We are aware of some of you who have a history of bribe taking and Zimbabwe is watching you,a�? the letter said.
Online Reporter