Zifa praised for move on Asiagate players

Former Young Warriors player Thomas Sandram commended Zifa for their position.
Falling short of calling for a total ban from all football activities until finalisation of the case, former players, coaches, fans and legal experts felt it was the way to go.
They said they had noted Zifa’s folly in leaving out the implicated players and other officials when three board members were suspended in September last year.

Methembe Ndlovu, Kenny Marange and Solomon Mugavazi were suspended at a board meeting held in September last year.
The Cuthbert Dube led board finally cracked the whip on Friday at a meeting held in the capital at the weekend suspending all players alleged to have been part of the scam.
Sandram said the move would pave way for a speedy finalisation of the case.

“This was the right decision because the committee investigating the issue will now get full co-operation of  the players implicated and hopefully this issue can be finalised soon.
“As national players one must know the pride that goes with winning matches for this nation where soccer is largely followed.
“To lose a game just to satisfy your own pockets at the cost of national pride must never be given room in the game,” said Sandram.

A legal expert who preferred anonymity for professional reasons said Zifa had made an error when they suspended board members only.
“That was an error to suspend the three board members over Asiagate and legally this made it selective suspension for the same offence.
“The players and board members should be taken as co-accused and should therefore be treated the same.

“I have faith in the committee set up to bring finality to this case which has been dragging on for too long,” said the lawyer.
On the streets, fans said Zifa should have extended the suspension to all soccer activity.
Nelson Kugwedera, an airtime vendor said suspending the players for national duty was not enough.

“Given that they suspended the three board members from football activities I think the same should have been extended to the players to send a loud and clear message that corruption is not tolerated.
“If you look at most of those players it might just be a quarter affected as the bulk are no longer eligible for selection for national team duty.

“Suspending them from football activity                would make the players feel the pinch,” said Kugwedera.
Fanuel Sibanda, a tout at one of the city’s commutter ranks said he would rather celebrate or mourn a real win or lose than mourn an artificial loss.
“We cannot waste our time mourning artificial losses created by greedy players. We need to celebrate real wins or mourn real defeats where we would learn something technically,” said Sibanda.