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Sports Reporter
A GROUP of former football administrators trading under the banner of Lifelong Footballers Trust have launched an audacious bid to wrestle control of ZIFA and use their proximity to Normalisation Committee chairman Lincoln Mutasa to force through their plot.
Led by ex-ZIFA Northern Region chairman Francis Zimunya, the Trust’s leadership, became the first of a host of local football’s constituencies to meet with Mutasa and his FIFA appointed committee last week.
This comes amid growing fears that the Normalisation Committee that appears to have strayed off the rails just 60 days after their appointment which had given hope of a quick turnaround in troubled ZIFA’s fortunes.
FIFA Head of development programmes in Africa Solomon Mudege on July 11 unveiled Mutasa and his committee, which also includes his fellow ex-footballers Rosemary Mugadza and Sikhumbuzo Ndebele and lawyer Nyasha Sanyamandwe. Accountant Cynthia Malaba was later co-opted to be Mutasa’s deputy on the committee, which has also been accused of being as lethargic as they have appeared clueless to the mammoth task of reviving the national game that has been bleeding to a slow death, courtesy of long periods of poor administration.
With Mudege on one side micromanaging the Normalisation Committee and allegedly using it to purge all those perceived to have led in the ouster of his cronies in Felton Kamambo’s board, Mutasa and his crew have now been at the mercy of those harbouring ZIFA ambitions.
Mudege has reportedly ordered the ouster of the lead secretariat trio of chief operations officer Xolisani Gwesela, technical director Wilson Mutekede and national teams’ general manager Wellington Mpandare.
The trio who were facing disciplinary charges drawn by the Kamambo leadership for allegedly working with the SRC during the period of the ZIFA board’s suspension, is being pressured to resign and accept offers of a package, each, from the committee.
They are expected to be formally notified of the dissolution of their posts before the end of this week.
Mudege is also understood to be pressing for the elevation of FIFA Forward Manager Kudzai Chitima for the ZIFA chief executive’s position but lack of the requisite tertiary qualifications set out by Mutasa’s committee could scuttle that bid. Premier Soccer League (PSL) chief executive Kenny Ndebele and Martin Kweza’s Northern Region Soccer League (NRSL) leadership are also in the radar for sanctioning for their alleged roles in the April 23, 2022 revocation of the ZIFA trio of Philemon Machana, Bryton Malandule and Kamambo, which, however, was later endorsed by FIFA.
There is an alleged bid to suspend all the committees running the regional leagues, despite the 2023 season heading into the final third across all leagues including even the Premiership. On the other hand of the Mudege pressure on the Normalisation Committee, the Lifelong Footballers Trust have ramped up their own bid to influence decisions at ZIFA.
Interestingly the Lifelong Footballers Trust leadership formed the campaign team and think-tank for Mutasa when the ex-defender launched his unsuccessful bid to become ZIFA vice-president in 2015. Omega Sibanda eventually won that vice-presidency in an election that swept Philip Chiyangwa to the helm of ZIFA.
It, however, emerged that the Lifelong Footballers Trust, now want to use their influence on Mutasa to hold sway in the reform process, which the former Dynamos chairman has been mandated to undertake at ZIFA.
In their proposals, the Trust made suggestions on how and what they feel should be the manner in which the next ZIFA Congress is structured.
More worryingly is that despite their own failures when they were in charge of the domestic game, ages ago, the bulk of those in the Trust want Mutasa to put a clause that bars anyone who was in the ZIFA Congress, whose tenure ended in December last year, to be barred from contesting at the next elections.
“All former ZIFA Councillors/Congress members who were responsible for the banishment of ZIFA by FIFA should not be allowed to hold office for a period of 5 years.
“This should also include those who contributed towards the demise of football through maladministration, corruption, mismanagement of funds, sex scandals, vote-buying, and those who held office whilst their terms had expired and without mandate from their constituencies.
“These should be banned or should be brought before the disciplinary committee,’’ the Trust said.
It is not clear, though how the Trust, which also includes former Women’s football boss Susan Chibizhe, will run the eligibility test without a clause in the ZIFA constitution catering for such their proposal.
Despite some of their proposals being highly questionable, the Trust seem to have found their way onto the Normalisation Committee, who heeded to the Trust’s suggestions to have some inter-provincial trials as a basis for selecting players for national duty.
The Normalisation Committee and have foregone securing an international friendly for the Warriors during the FIFA window, and instead chose to have some inter-provincial trials on the same week when the likes of Marvelous Nakamba, Jordan Zemura, Tino Kadewere and Marshal Munetsi would have been available for the build-up for the tougher 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign which starts in November.
The FIFA Match-Day dates for the remainder of this year are September 4-12 (two); October 9-17 (two) and November 13-21 (two).
“Discussions were held that centred on the urgent need to set up functional structures for ZIFA as per FIFA Statutes as well as for the football community to know the football roadmap,’’ wrote the Trust.
In their proposals They then resolved that:
The need for the football structures to be put in place as per FIFA statutes ASAP can never be over emphasized.
- The need for the Normalisation Committee to immediately put in place committees that would direct and oversee the resuscitation of football structures from the grassroots level upwards
- A national Restructuring Committee should be established that will be responsible for putting up Area Zones in all the country’s Wards, Constituencies and Districts in the 10 Provinces. This Committee should ensure that all the 4,000 plus amateur and social clubs playing football outside the ZIFA structures are incorporated into the ZIFA structures so that they become an integral part of the Football family. This will allow the football community to play a positive role in the development of football at all levels of the game. It will give the football community ownership of the game, also widen the ZIFA membership and broaden the association’s player-base at all levels.
- The need for the inclusion of all the football stakeholders in the ZIFA policy-making body, the ZIFA Congress which includes Junior Football, Former footballers, Legends, Supporters Association, Coaches, ZIFA Elders among a host of others who were removed and sidelined as a form of victimisation by the previous boards and executives
- ZIFA needs to fund Beach and Futsal through the FIFA grant so that clubs are formed, grounds constructed and equipment availed to clubs. This is good for the development of the game in this country. Committees, not coordinators, to be put in place to administer Futsal and Beach football
- There is a need to consider reverting to two (2) Regions, North and South, to improve the quality of football in the country’s regions. A National First Division and two second divisions (Northern and Southern) should be put in place.
- Provinces to constitute third divisions. There is need to register all social leagues under fourth divisions, and these should be constituency-based’’ The Trust who also trade as football elders argue that Mutasa must also urgently set up subcommittees of the Normalisation committee in the various provinces and regions to run football “so that reforms take place effectively.
“What we need now are committees to spearhead the restoration of structures to guide us to elections.
“FIFA grants should benefit all including grassroots soccer, disadvantaged committees, schools, beach and futsal.
“There is need to introduce a 5% development levy on all football matches that are played in the country, which will be channelled towards junior football development”
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