adminLovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
DESPITE the Zifa disciplinary committee and the Custom Kachambwa chaired Independent Ethics Committee having finalised the Centralgate saga, the football motherbody is reluctant to make public its findings. Centralgate stems from matches involving the now defunct clubs Hardbody and Tripple B which were purportedly fixed in the Zifa Central Soccer League in 2011.
Hardbody were subsequently promoted to the top flight league with some of its officials admitting to wrong doing.
The saga sucked in the then Zifa Central Region chairman, Patrick Hokonya, his Southern Region counterpart Gift Banda and the then acting referees committee chairperson, Samukeliso Silengane who were said to be the ringleaders behind the scam.
Banda was banned for two years for taking football matters to court following his court challenge to have his matter heard. He had argued that justice delayed was justice denied.
Silengane and Hokonya were hauled before the Zifa disciplinary committee in September last year and the verdicts are yet to be forwarded to the Zifa board but the outcome has not been made public.
Several referees fingered in Centralgate have had their bans lifted. Some have been hoping that they would get a reprieve soon and have been seen at matches with some members of the Zifa assembly.
Hokonya has since written to the football motherbody demanding to know his fate.
“On 27 September I attended the hearing as requested by yourselves. I was told by the committee that Zifa had withdrawn all charges against me because they had failed to get evidence or witnesses on any of the charges.
“I was told official communication would come from Zifa the following week. To date, I have not received that communication from yourselves. I’m making a follow up on the communication so that I can close that chapter and move on with my life,” read part of the letter signed by Hokonya dated October 21, 2013 addressed to the Zifa board.
Contacted for comment Zifa communications officer Xolisani Gwesela referred questions to the association’s chief executive officer,
Jonathan Mashingaidze was not picking up his mobile phone at the time of going to print.
However, Zifa board member Nigel Munyati confirmed that the board had concluded Centralgate and Hokonya had been found not guilty.
He said: “Centralgate was dealt with in November last year and it was agreed that Hokonya has no case to answer but the Zifa board is reluctant to make the findings public.
“I think the decision not to reinstate Hokonya was personal since some of the board members did not want to see him returning to the board as he was one of the people who were critical in the manner Zifa was handling certain issues .”
Sources within Zifa said the former Central Region boss fell out with Zifa president Cuthbert Dube as he was critical of the latter because of the manner he was handling issues especially the Asiagate saga and running of the local game.
Others said the Centralgate case was porous and had little merit and that it was more to do with turf wars among administrators in both the Central and Southern Region.
derick.khumalo