Zifa welcome Eaton visit

matter.
Eaton is to leave Fifa at the end of May to take up anew post in Qatar.
But Eaton has recently been seized with probing match-fixing and illegal betting on a global scale with his investigations taking to some of the football associations dotted around the world including Zifa.
Zifa, who have admitted that their exercise to probe and punish the match-fixing culprits has taken longer than anticipated, had also invited Eaton’s successor Ralf Mutschke to  come to Harare and get an insight on the extent of the impact that Asiagate made on the domestic game.
It is not yet clear whether Eaton, who on his maiden visit to the country was accompanied by chief investigator Terry Steans, will this time also come with Mutschke on his return to the country.
But the Fifa head of security’s decision to update Zifa on the ground he has covered with the Asiagate probe since his first visit has excited the Zifa board who are also anxiously awaiting the outcome of the findings of the Justice Ebrahim independent committee.
Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze in writing to Eaton to acknowledge his wish to visit the country again, reiterated the association’s commitment to bringing to finality the Asiagate chapter.
Mashingaidze has also often insisted that they would not want the Asiagate matter to continue impacting on Zimbabwe’s bid for places at the 2013 African Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup.
The Warriors have already started their qualification bid for the Nations Cup, albeit on a 2-1 losing cause to Burundi in Bujumbura on February 29.
Zifa’s decision to suspend over 90 players and coaches fingered in the initial Asiagate report produced by the Ndumiso Gumede probe team had a direct bearing on the game against Burundi as interim coach Rahman Gumbo was had to restrict his selection base to those not named in the report.
Mashingaidze also told Eaton that Zifa believes that the impact of the Asiagate scam could still be felt in the domestic game in the next five years.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association is in receipt of your letter dated 22 March 2012 pertaining to the visit to Zimbabwe by yourself in April 2012.
“The association is desirous to see finality to the Asiagate scandal given that the scandal has affected the moral fibre of Zimbabwean football.
“The association is keen to meet with your esteemed person and office before your tenure comes to an end since such a meeting will afford both Fifa and Zifa the opportunity to compare notes on the progress made to date, challenges around the process and the way forward.
“The association would like to bring to your attention the machinations at hand meant to frustrate our efforts as an association and nation to combat the ugly and cancerous scourge of match-fixing and betting.
“Zimbabwe shall stop at nothing in our moral obligation to name a d shame individuals and groups bent on destroying the beautiful game of football in Zimbabwe.
“The association and the nation at large are prepared to go the extra mile in bringing finality to this scandal and we are mindful of the task at hand which we believe can be achieved by a committed and united family of football.
“The match-fixing and betting scandal’s impact on our game is set to resonate beyond the next five years and if piecemeal measures are proffered in our war against the scourge, the future generation shall hold us culpable for the game’s moral decay,’’ Mashingaidze said.
Zifa, Mashingaidze also said, were determined to introduce a clean slate avoid a situation where the national game is mired in corruption.
“We believe that the next generations should be presented with a corruption-free game of football which will change their livelihood and moral values.
“Meanwhile, the association would like to wish you a bountiful new tenure in your next placement,’’ Mashingaidze said.
The letter was also copied to Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke and the world soccer governing body’s development officer for Southern Africa Ashford Mamelodi.
Eaton is however, likely to seek more government support for Zifa’s bid to rid the national game of corruption if the gospel that the Fifa head of security has been preaching is anything to go by.
The Australian last week told a Soccerex forum that governments worldwide needed to be involved if match-fixing was to be curbed on a global scale.
The outgoing Fifa head of security claimed that governments should take greater responsibility for curbing match-fixing in football after insisting that organised crime, rather than football, was the root cause of the problem.
Speaking on a panel discussion about ‘Betting in Football’ at the Soccerex European Forum, Eaton, who will join the Qatar-based International Centre for Sport Security next month, said that “hard administration” was required through mainstream governance.
Eaton also pinpointed the Southeast Asian market as a key source of illegal betting and corruption in football, but added that the regulated betting market should be “embraced” by the football industry.
“The problem is the Southeast Asian betting market. Let’s call a spade a spade,” he said.
“We’re talking about massive money and you can’t understate the magnitude of the issue. It’s criminal behaviour by organised crime and they are manipulating several sports, not just football.
“This is a collective problem of governance.
“This is not a sporting responsibility — this (should be) of a collective interest to governments, and they should face up to it.
“In some areas, criminals have carte blanche access to players.
“Criminals always go for a weakness, and economic weakness is the cheapest way to take advantage. We don’t need to regulate gambling out of existence. What is needed is the collective endeavour of governments. It is a global problem that needs global solutions.”