Chronicle Editor
Tadious Manyepo, Harare Bureau
ZIFA have demanded that their former leaders – president Philip Chiyangwa and his deputy Omega Sibanda – bring in equipment, donated by Fifa, which they claim the duo is holding on to.
This follows an article published in this newspaper yesterday in which Sibanda claimed the Zifa bosses allegedly abused trust by wrongly distributing equipment from Fifa which the former leaders secured from the world football governing body.
However, in a statement yesterday, Zifa said they were the ones who secured the equipment they have been distributing and the exercise was, contrary to claims from Sibanda, above board.
Zifa chief executive, Joseph Mamutse, then wrote to Chiyangwa and Sibanda demanding equipment which he claimed the duo had been holding on to since December 2018.
The association claimed Sibanda had, through his interview with this newspapers, actually revealed there was a batch of separate equipment which came from Fifa just before the current leadership took office.
Zifa say they now want that equipment, which they claim is different from the one they have been distributing, brought into their custody.
Although Sibanda was the only one who voiced his concerns, over what he alleged to be irregularities in the kit distribution, Zifa yesterday wrote identical letters to both him and Chiyangwa demanding they hand over equipment sourced from Fifa.
Sibanda, who insists it’s the same equipment they sourced which was only then cleared by the current board, said he was now suing Mamutse.
“We have resolved to sue Mamutse (Joseph). He must know that we are ordinary stakeholders and nowhere near Zifa,” said Sibanda.
“In any case, football is a team game and there is always a need to respect each other.
“If you are not a team player and you can’t respect one another then it means you cannot play the game.
“Philemon Machana, who is still at Zifa, knows everything that our board was doing.
“In 2017, Zifa through me, organised a provincial chairmen’s grassroots symposium in Masvingo where we invited Fifa officials to educate grassroots coaches.
“That is when we invited Fifa to start donating grassroots equipment and they agreed and the donations were actually supposed to be annual.
“But now that the current Zifa board don’t bother consulting us on what was on the ground, the consignment is no longer coming.
“As we speak, there is lot of Fifa-donated Zifa equipment being held by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
“Junior football development is the heartbeat of any well-meaning mother body. Has there been any equipment donated to Nash, Naph or Tertiary institutions?”
Online Reporter