Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
CRISIS-ridden Zimbabwe Rugby Union remain in limbo and have been left virtually leaderless in their daily administration following the forced resignation of chief executive Sifiso Made.
The union already rocked by the controversial and yet unresolved suspension of president, Losson Mtongwiza have seemingly been taking backward steps each time they appeared to be going forward.
The setting up of an interim management committee, has however, sparked a glimmer of hope of some sanity at ZRU board level.
Made’s departure has left the secretariat and effectively the ZRU leaderless as members of the IMC, just like the suspended executive and board are all part-time administrators.
With Made gone, only the duo of Jackie Chironga (administrator) and accountant Margaret Magwaro is manning the ZRU office.
Yet in the year that Zimbabwe ended three decades of waiting to qualify for the World Cup and with a lot needed to be done to unlock support from World Rugby and Rugby Africa, there is no one on the ground at the moment, to steer the ship and oversee, on a daily basis, all the key pillars of the domestic game.
Made was not at liberty to discuss much about his departure from the ZRU, but confirmed he had left the union.
“Yes, I have since resigned as per the recommendation from the acting president then Dr Tapfuma Parirenyatwa,’’ Made said.
In a move that is as strange as it appears ill-advised, Made, an ex-officio member of both the executive committee and the board was elbowed out when the Sports and Recreation Commission dissolved the two structures.
The letter ordering the ZRU board and executive to step aside, authored by former SRC director-general had been silent on the fate of the union’s chief executive before as yet unclear manoeuvres were initiated to ask Made to step down.
“The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) having noted the incessant governance and leadership challenges bedevilling the Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) which have ultimately brought the sport of rugby into disrepute, hereby recommends for the IMMEDIATE resignation of the ZRU National Executive Board and the National Executive Committee,’’ read part of the SRC letter.
“The SRC expects this recommendation to be implemented on or before Friday the 5th of September 2025.”
Days after the executive committee and the board members had left, Made was asked to follow suit.
Sources close to the goings-on at ZRU yesterday expressed worry over the impact of having a leadership vacuum at the union on the Sables, the Cheetahs, women’s teams and the Junior Sables.
There has also been a misconception that the financial rewards in terms of the increased grant, emanating from Zimbabwe’s qualification for the World Cup would sorely, be for the Sables.
“It must be remembered that there are five pillars that ZRU need to service with the grant from World Rugby and these are, Administration, Women’s, Development, Governance, Training and Education so one needs to understand that in as much as they are the flagship team, it is not just about the Sables.
“The Cheetahs should soon be travelling for the Safari Sevens in Kenya and there is also an international window for the Sables coming up in November which Zimbabwe must make full use.
“It would appear that the best way round it would have been to let the secretariat continue with the job until the next elected executive comes on board than throw the entire the administration into disarray and bring in an Interim Committee who will not have anyone with institutional memory to guide them in this delicate period which Zimbabwe rugby is navigating,’’ the sources said.
Although the move to appoint an interim leadership has received the blessings of Rugby Africa and World Rugby, the continental body’s president Herbert Mensah had warned on the need to have stability at the ZRU.
Mensah gave the warning when he advised against the resignation of vice president Parirenyatwa before the IMC was appointed.
