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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
THE ZIFA board is facing the danger of missing most of the timelines set by the Sports and Recreation Commission for the implementation of football reforms.
The board, which came into office in December 2018, has about three months left before its tenure comes to an end.
In accordance with the constitution, the ZIFA Congress, which is the association’s supreme decision-making body, is also expected to be out of office by then.
Faced with this puzzle, ZIFA are next month expected to call an emergency meeting seeking the extension of their mandate so that all the decisions to be carried after December would be legal and binding.
Both ZIFA and Sports Commission are looking to have a quick resolution to the problems facing Zimbabwean football, and to expedite the readmission of the country into the FIFA family.
As a result, ZIFA, Sports Commission and the ZIFA Restructuring Committee met for the first time in Harare at the weekend when updates and expectations were tabled.
“The purpose of the meeting was, in the first instance, to receive an update from ZIFA regarding the implementation of certain of the conditions to which the lifting of the suspension of the ZIFA Executive Committee on 8th June, 2022, was subject to,” said the Sports Commission statement.
“Secondly, the meeting provided an opportunity for BDO Chartered Accountants to provide a progress report on the forensic audit which they are presently carrying out on the financial affairs of ZIFA.
“Lastly, the Restructuring Committee gave an update on the progress it has made in discharging the tasks forming a part of its terms of reference.
“For its part the SRC outlined its expectations for parties to start to put into place an agreed framework populated by specific tasks and deadlines (‘Implementation Matrix’) regarding matters agreed as requiring reform.”
The Sports Commission expected ZIFA to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting next month to consider the findings of the BDO forensic audit.
The regulator also wants the association to convene another EGM to look at the recommendations of the Restructuring Committee for adoption.
The recommendations, which should be out by the end of year, will form the basis of the Implementation Matrix leading to elections early next year.
A key component to the Implementation Matrix is the adoption of a new constitution by the members of ZIFA in December, after which and subject to the provisions of the new constitution, the holding of new elections from grassroots structures to Executive Committee level early next year.
But the challenge is that some of the expectations and timelines set by the Sports Commission are not realistic. Due processes need to be followed, in accordance with the dictates of the ZIFA and FIFA constitutions.
The statutes require that ZIFA notify its members of the meeting at least 40 days before the date of the indaba.
Again, any process leading to the elections without the involvement of FIFA would be null and void. For any ZIFA election to be valid, they need to be supervised by FIFA. Currently ZIFA are under FIFA suspension and efforts are being put in place before readmission is sought.
Since all parties appear to be in agreement, unlike during the previous era when the ZIFA executive committee led by Felton Kamambo refused to cooperate with the authorities, ZIFA needed more free rope, with the Sports Commission continuing to play an advisory role.
The ZIFA board claim they have been working behind the scenes to fulfil the reforms outlined by the Sports Commission as part of conditions given to the current football leadership led by Gift Banda.
The board has put in place systems to improve refereeing, which was one of the conditions put up by the Sports Commission, but overall there haven’t been much noticeable developments on the ground since the ouster of Kamambo.
Online Reporter