adminAugustine Hwata Sports Reporter
IT appears cash-strapped Zifa are stopping at nothing to ensure they raise even a single cent for their coffers.
Zifa have now instructed the Premiership leaders to bar players, who have failed to pay their outstanding Asiagate fines, from taking part in football activities with immediate effect.
The move could see the association heading for a potential showdown with the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe who believe it is unfair for Zifa to make such an order without giving due notice.
In November 2012, Zifa slapped 66 players and officials with various fines for their alleged involvement in the Asiagate match-fixing scandal but five individuals successfully lodged their appeals with the Special Appeals Committee headed by highly-respected lawyer Advocate Silas Chekera.
Already CAPS United coach Taurai Mangwiro and Shabanie Mine coach Luke Masomere have won a reprieve and are back in the game while South Africa-based defenders, Method Mwanjali and Thomas Sweswe, are waiting for their fate.
Zifa, in a surprise move, have now gone for the players and officials who have not yet settled their fines in full and have directed the PSL to bar them from being part of the country’s football activities until they have settled their accounts.
While Zifa have a right to go for those who owe them money, just like the way those who are owed by the association come to get their dues, it is the way the mother body have decided to implement their latest directive that could cause concern.
For Zifa to just send a letter to the PSL directing that the players be suspended, with immediate effect, without giving them a warning or due notice to settle their accounts or face the consequences, doesn’t paint the national association as good light.
In a letter dated July 29, 2013, Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze directed his PSL counterpart Kenny Ndebele to exclude players and officials who have not yet settled their fines or at least come up with a payment plan.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association fined players who were convicted of match-fixing and illegal betting in November 2012,” read the letter from Mashingaidze.
“Some players have paid their fines in full with some tendering payment plans which, regrettably, have not been religiously followed.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association, hereby, requests your esteemed office and person to facilitate the exclusion of the players who have willfully reneged on their commitment to service their outstanding fines with effect from August 1, 2013.”
Yesterday, Zifa communications officer Xolisani Gwasela said some players had come up with a new payment plan and could be given a reprieve.
Among the players who are being targeted for the impending ban are the Dynamos duo of Augustine Mbara and Ocean Mushure who are yet to pay US$2 000 and US$3 000 respectively.
Black Rhinos forward Phillip Marufu is also staring a possible ban as he was slapped with a US$3 000 fine.
“So far we have received a positive response from some players while other have come up with a payment plan.
“I am not at liberty to disclose those who have not yet paid,” said Gwasela.
Zifa are targeting the players at a time they reportedly owe several service providers and even national team players match fees and bonuses.
Only on Friday, the Warriors refused to train in the afternoon session, because of their outstanding dues, and this was largely blamed for their poor performance in the dull goalless draw against Mauritius in a CHAN qualifier at Rufaro on Sunday.
A team, which had thrashed the same opponents 3-0 in their backyard, somehow lost its way at home and the body language of the players clearly painted a picture of tormented souls struggling to keep their focus on the game.
Zifa have been relying on the direct financial injections from their president, Cuthbert Dube, who has been fighting a sole battle just to keep his association afloat as it struggles to deal with the weight of a US$4,4million debt.
Online Reporter