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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter—
ZIFA chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze has been sucked into a massive $30,000 financial scandal in which he allegedly borrowed money from some clubs and regions under the guise that it was meant for the beleaguered association. The foxy Zifa head of secretariat would also allegedly secure sports materials in the name of the association.
Transactions yet to be paid amount to $30,300 and none of these appear on the Zifa creditors’ list, fuelling suspicion that Mashingaidze misrepresented facts and also abused his office.
In 2012, Mashingaidze is said to have borrowed $10,000 from Zifa Southern Region side Bulawayo Chiefs while in 2014 he approached Zifa Northern Region where he was given $5,000.
Again in 2014, just before the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania which the Warriors lost, he allegedly borrowed $10,000 from the Zimbabwe Referees Committee.
In the same year, Mashingaidze also sent workers from the Zifa Bulawayo office to get soccer balls from a Bulawayo shop worth $5,300.
The shop owner, who declined to named, said the matter was now being handled by his lawyers as efforts to engage the Zifa CEO have been futile.
“I’ve since instructed my lawyers to take the matter up because seriously I’m an emerging businessman and to be owed such an amount literally cripples me in business. The guys from the Zifa Bulawayo office were constantly nagging me until I agreed because they said they were sent by their boss Mashingaidze and that the balls were for the national association,” said the sports shop owner.
A Southern Region board member confirmed the $10,000 debt owed to Bulawayo Chiefs and said correspondence from the club was there to prove that.
“Bulawayo Chiefs actually refused to pay their 2013 affiliation fees arguing that Zifa owed them substantial amounts of money and in the process we were prejudiced of $2,500 as a region,” said the board member.
He said they actually ordered the club to get a confirmation letter from Mashingaidze that Zifa owed such an amount.
“Correspondence from Mashingaidze confirming the debt is there in the office but what boggles us is why such a huge figure isn’t in the national association’s debtors’ list,” said the board member.
He expressed ignorance on the $5,300 debt owed to a Bulawayo sports shop owner while Southern Region administrator Augustine Ndlovu, who is said to have collected the balls, promised to get back to Chronicle Sport but never did.
Efforts to contact him later were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was off, while staffers at the Zifa Bulawayo office claimed he was out on business.
A Zimbabwe Referees Committee source also confirmed that Mashingaidze borrowed $10,000 from the committee ahead of the Tanzania match.
“Yes, he borrowed and was given such an amount but is yet to settle that debt,” said the source.
The latest scandal comes barely 24HRS after Prophet Walter Magaya made sensational revelations that some of the money he donated to the Warriors recently did not go to the players.
Magaya said Zifa was breaking the bond of trust that existed between the two parties which enabled him to pour funds into the national team coffers.
The Prophet alleged that part of the R560,000 that he donated to the Warriors before the Cosafa Cup tournament was used for other things and the players did not receive all that was due to them as was agreed by the two parties.
Efforts to get a comment from Mashingaidze drew blanks as his mobile phone rang unanswered.
Online Reporter