THE decision to appoint a restructuring committee on Friday to replace the suspended Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) board by the overzealous Sports and Recreation Commission is set to carry detrimental repercussions as FIFA will wield an axe on the country.
That Zimbabwe will be banned from all forms of football over government interference is no longer a subject for debate, but highly placed sources claim that it is now only a matter of when the ban will be effected.
“The ban will include suspension of the ongoing Premier Soccer League that only returned recently after two years on the fringes due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” a source confided to EnterSportNews.
“The referees structures will also be affected because they too fall under ZIFA purview. Arguably the most significant loss will be the team’s participation at next year’s Africa Cup of Nation’s Cup in Cameroon. We have seen how the SRC has been desperately trying to get public sympathy by throwing around figures purportedly for the Warriors Afcon campaign. Deep down in their hearts, they know that they messed up, and the ban is inevitable.
“If they were sincere, why would they wait until the last hour to give a helping hand to the Warriors when qualification was sealed way back in March, Gerald Mlotshwa and his cabal are bent on disturbing the smooth running of football by the Felton Kamambo led administration and replace them with their apologist, but FIFA doesn’t operate that way. The only way for football to return after the ban will be to reinstituting the Kamambo board and move away; without that, there won’t be any football to talk about in Zimbabwe. This ban can take effect as early as tomorrow (Monday).”
Mlotshwa is not new to controversy after his infamous ban on a legitimately elected Zimbabwe Cricket board led by legislator Tavengwa Mukuhlani in 2019. The International Cricket Council responded by banning Zimbabwe from all forms of cricket. This costs the Senior Women’s Cricket Team’s write to participate at the Global Qualifiers in Scotland that year while the men’s Qualifiers were also affected. Mlotshwa, with his tail tucked in between his legs, made a u-turn and reinstalled the suspended board before ICC lifted the ban, but the damage had already been felt far and wide. Several experienced players, both men and women, retired due to the ban.
“SRC has appointed a ZIFA Restructuring Committee as part of its strategic roadmap towards addressing the issues that have affected football management and administration in Zimbabwe,” read SRC statement.
“The appointment of the Committee is in line with the provisions of Sections 21, as well as 19(b) and 20(c) of the Sports and Recreation Commission Act. The Restructuring Committee shall be a committee independent of the SRC, with the autonomy to discharge the functions more fully set out in its terms of reference. The restructuring committee will not be involved in the day to day running of football in Zimbabwe, which is the responsibility of the ZIFA Secretariat but will undertake matters of a strategic nature as outlined in their terms of reference.
“The nine-member committee consists of notable individuals with varying skills and competencies from sports management and administration, legal and advisory, marketing and public relations to business administration and management.”
