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ZIFA says the association was fined only $500 by the Confederation of African Football for breaching Article 15.11 of the African Nations’ Championship rules and regulations not the $25 000 reported in some sections of the media.“The Zimbabwe Football Association would like to correct reports circulating in the media in relation to a fine imposed on the association by the Confederation of African Football for breaching Article 15.11 of the African Nations’ Championship rules and regulations.
The article in question reads: “The venue, the day and the kick off time of the match (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) will be determined by the host association. The latter shall inform the General Secretariat of CAF as well as the opposing team one month before the date of the first group match. Each infraction to these obligations shall entail a fine of five hundred (500) US dollars.
“The fine attracted by the anomaly therefore is not $25 000 as reported, but $500 as stated in the rules and regulations,” reads the statement from Zifa circulated by the Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela.
Zifa had reportedly been fined $25 000 by the Confederation of African Football after the association’s secretariat failed to fill in the forms for the country’s CHAN participation.
According to the media reports, the fine comes at a time when ZIFA have announced they are in dire need of partners to help them fulfil the national team fixtures as the Warriors prepare for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next week.
The national football team is scheduled to travel to Malawi for a date against the Flames in their first match of the marathon which ends next year.
Then the group of locally-based players will host Comoros in the first leg of the first round of the CHAN 2016 qualifiers the following week. ZIFA officials failed to fill the CHAN forms properly and it attracted a fine from FIFA.
ZIFA marketing manager, Wellington Mugwagwa, this week told the media that the association was facing a huge challenge.
While the Warriors are yet to begin meaningful preparations, their opponents in the AFCON qualifiers, Malawi, are already in camp and will be travelling to Egypt this Friday for an international friendly.
“The situation is dire. Right now we are celebrating the success scored by the Young Warriors and the Mighty Warriors and we are saying there is still room for partners to come in and help these teams go far,” said Mugwagwa.
“It’s not a secret that ZIFA is broke and at the moment we are looking for partners to join hands with us in a more business environment.
“We have said it before, sponsors are free to pay directly to services providers or someone can just avail the air tickets if they can. Someone can also choose to pay the players’ allowances.
“We can avail the schedule and they can do so directly into the players’ accounts.
“We have come up with packages to encourage sponsors. Depending on the magnitude of their help, we can put advertising banners in the stadium or adverts on our website in exchange for the support.
“So we are appealing for help. We have opened an Ecocash account which people can also use to make donations.”
ZIFA indicated they needed $352 150 last month alone for the Warriors’ participation in the COSAFA Cup, the Young Warriors’ CAF Under-23 Championship and the Mighty Warriors’ Olympic campaign.
Meanwhile, CAF has released the names of match officials to officiate when Zimbabwe host Comoros on June 21 in the African Nations’ Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
All four referees are from Swaziland while the match commissioner hails from Malawi.
Online Reporter