Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
FIFA’S announcement that it will hold a virtual congress this year after its intended Addis Ababa gathering was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic should inspire Zifa to do the same.
Fifa postponed the congress in the Ethiopian capital from June to September in response to the Covid-19 pandemic but the Bureau of its Council has now decided to stage a virtual congress.
Fifa said the virtual congress will take place on September 18.
Zifa indefinitely postponed its 2020 annual general meeting that should have been held on May 2 and it’s not clear when the event will now be staged.
Virtual meetings have become the new way of life in the business world since the outbreak of the pandemic and some national sports associations and even churches are holding their worship sessions online.
Zifa, however, remain deeply steeped in the pre-Covid-19 era and seem to be awaiting lifting of lockdown restrictions to gather for its AGM.
The Sports and Recreation Commission has declared that there’s no excuse for national sports associations not to fulfil their mandatory administrative obligations such as holding AGMs during the Covid-19 lockdown and encouraged them to embrace technology.
The SRC also gave associations a timeframe to comply and Zifa is among federations that are yet to hold their AGMs.
Most associations are using the Covid-19 lockdown to attend to pressing administrative matters but Zifa which has a number of outstanding issues is making no attempt to go digital to enable it to address some of the issues.
Last week, Zifa’s emergency committee usurped assembly duties by deciding that the domestic football season aligns its calendar with other modern African leagues.
Aligning with the Fifa calendar has always proved tricky for Zimbabwean football, which has been running between March and November while the Fifa calendar is from August to May.
Zifa councillors, cognisant of the fact that an experiment with the August to May calendar in the 1990s by their predecessors led by the late Morrison Sifelani and Chris Sibanda hit a snag largely due to poor facilities, rejected a move to align the local league at last year’s AGM.
They argued that most venues used for topflight and lower leagues had problems with the drainage system during the rainy season.
Stadium owners haven’t improved their facilities to prepare for football to be played during the rainy season.
It needs a full council for a landmark decision like changing the season calendar, meaning that if the emergency committee is really keen to serve football, it has to bring the matter to the assembly and let councillors decide.
If sporting associations like the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) and Zimbabwe Volleyball Association (ZVA) are holding virtual meetings, what stops Zifa from doing the same?
What is it that the national football association is afraid of, if ever they fear anything?
Zifa can’t use the Covid-19 lockdown as an excuse for failing to hold its AGM.
The association has received US$500 000 and has used part of the money to pay referees’ allowances as well as clearing national team players’ outstanding monies.
Buying data for all 58 Zifa councillors to log on for a virtual meeting from the comfort of their homes should be possible.
The councillors have smartphones and are on the Zifa WhatsApp groups, meaning it’s possible for them to hold a virtual meeting.
Zifa will save substantial amount of money by holding a virtual meeting as it will not pay for travel, accommodation and allowances for councillors. — @ZililoR
Online Reporter