Chiyangwa gets Zifa Assembly backing

A special Zifa congress yesterday tasked Phillip Chiyangwa and his executive to do whatever it takes to get the association out of debt, including pushing ahead with the contentious issue of dissolution.

Councillors who attended the indaba convened in Harare yesterday morning and once again threw their weight behind a proposal to dissolve the football governing body that is in the red with a $6 million debt.

This comes just over a month after voting in favour of a hurried proposal to dissolve the local football's supreme governing body. There were no surprises.

"The message was loud and clear, the councillors said 'get us out of this mess' and that is what I intend to do, that is what I always intended to do and I will do it without worrying about who says what and who doesn't say what," said Chiyangwa after the meeting.

Flanked by his deputy Omega Sibanda, the Zifa president challenged his critics to proffer solutions on how to liquidate the choking debt "instead of just throwing bricks."

"They just talk but I know the situation on the ground better than anyone else and can report on it better. Just a few weeks ago, I had to fork out money from my pocket to make sure that the Young Warriors travel to Cameroon.

"The councillors who were in that room there are my masters and they also appreciate the situation, hence their decision to throw their weight behind my proposal," he said.

Initial efforts to dissolve Zifa were met by stiff resistance from various quarters with the Sports and Recreation Commission taking issue with how the soccer governing body violated its own constitution when they met at the Zifa Village on 4 June.

The SRC directed Zifa to go back to basics, hence yesterday's meeting where councillors also took some time to discuss the "troublesome pair" of Francis Zimunya and Chris Sambo. The pair has been fronting an anti-Zifa dissolution campaign.

"The councillors are not amused by the actions of Zimunya and Sambo and have said every possible measure should be taken to bring this troublesome pair to book," said Sibanda.

"They are attention seekers. If they genuinely loved the game like they claim, they would not be going around causing trouble like they are doing now. Right now, the Mighty Warriors are in camp in Bindura and these guys have never offered even a bottle of water, all they want to do is cause mayhem. Zimunya seems to have made a career of fighting the executive of the day, he fought with Rafik Khan, he did the same with Cuthbert Dube and now he is taking the fight to my (Zifa) president."

However, Zimunya and Sambo last night insisted that they were not interested in taking over the running of Zifa.

"As the Lifelong Footballers Trust, we are of the opinion that the manner in which Zifa had been dissolved (sic) was heartless, nefarious and was intended to avoid paying the creditors and employees.

"Our sentiments were echoed by the Minister of Sport and Recreation while the Sports and Recreation Committee described the move as 'fraudulent'. We do not need dissolution, what we need first is a forensic audit," said the pair in a statement. Earlier on, Chiyangwa had hinted on a forensic audit, suggesting that some former Zifa workers will find themselves being guests of the State once it's completed.

"If some of these guys don't end up in prison after this audit then they will never see the walls of Chikurubi in their lives. How do you explain people continuing to report for duty when they had not been paid for 20 months?

"What was in it for them? We want to get to the bottom of this matter and those who siphoned money or inflated the debt bill will soon be facing the music," said Chiyangwa.