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THE ZIFA Normalisation Committee’s mandate lapses today, exactly 355 days since FIFA announced its establishment, which coincided with the lifting of a suspension that was imposed ostensibly because of Government interference, a cardinal sin, according to the Zurich-based world football-governing body.
We all thought the four-member committee, led by a bespectacled Lincoln Mutasa, would literally normalise the administration of the local game.
We all grew up thinking spectacles suggested sophistication.
There is always that gentility associated with the bespectacled.
They will never be associated with chaos or malfeasance.
Instead, they are always associated with refinement and finesse.
How wrong we were!
What we have witnessed over the past 11 months has been anything, but normal.
After 355 days in office, they could not even come up with a substantive coach, which might possibly explain the recent catastrophic losses to minnows Lesotho and bitter rivals South Africa in recent World Cup qualifiers.
What could possibly explain their failure to do what should ordinarily be a very simple task of choosing the best qualified mentor to take charge of the Warriors?
The only thing that they will now leave behind after a monumentally disappointing and ineffectual tenure will be a pile of CVs of those who raised their hand to be considered for what is seemingly the most chaotic job in the world at the moment.
After 355 days in office, ZIFA’s statutes have not been amended, as was recommended by FIFA, while the administration of the association remains as shambolic as it was before.
For the avoidance of doubt, in that July 11 statement last year announcing the Normalisation Committee, which also includes Sikhumbuzo Ndebele, Rosemary Mugadza and Nyasha Sanyamandwe, the Bureau of the FIFA Council outlined its expectations.
In essence, the committee was supposed to run the daily affairs of ZIFA; restructure its administration, as well as review the ZIFA statutes and electoral code to ensure their compliance with the FIFA statutes and requirements.
The envisaged amendments were also supposed to be adopted by the ZIFA Congress.
Further, they were widely expected to act as an electoral committee in order to organise and conduct elections for a new ZIFA board based on the newly aligned ZIFA statutes and electoral code.
All this never happened.
What they, however, managed to do over the past 355 days was to line their pockets.
They say FIFA has been paying the lads bucketloads of cash.
In fact, Bra Shakes heard they were getting upwards of US$4 000 every month, which, quite frankly, is scandalous, if not criminal, considering that they did absolutely nothing.
Some were already speculating that the committee was dragging their feet in order to force FIFA to extend their term, which would have guaranteed another good payday.
But even if they are jettisoned, as is widely expected, they have already made a small fortune for themselves.
And this is precisely the problem that lies at the heart of our football.
It seems some people, if not most, who are involved in the administration of the local game, particularly ZIFA, are in it for the money, and nothing else.
There is something that our storytellers do not tell us about the rich pickings at ZIFA.
There should be a gold mine in those offices.
Even after messing up big time, no one is prepared to walk away without putting up a fight.
All of them are always prised away from the association while kicking and screaming.
While Bra Shakes once said the demon at ZIFA needed to be urgently exorcised by a prophet or sangoma, he did not mean it literally.
It was just a joke.
News that one of our prominent prophets is eyeing the coveted ZIFA post is distressing, to say the least.
But all this shows that the biggest challenge we have in our football, as in many other sports, is in administration.
Bra Shakes has one message for the ZIFA Normalisation Committee — Please go!
Until next time.
Peace!
Yours Sincerely,
Bra Shakes.
Online Reporter