Sports / Soccer
New evidence boosts Beitbridge soccer team's case for promotion
24 Feb 2012 at 06:03hrs | Views
DOCUMENTS have emerged showing that the player at the centre of the wrangle between Tripple B and Hardbody, Tatenda Chingarah, was registered to play in Namibia. The documents are certain to boost Tripple B's case as one of the key parts of the dispute has centred on the mystery related to whether Chingarah was registered to play in Namibia.
Tripple B have been questioning the validity of the clearance papers that enabled Chingarah to feature for Hardbody in the 2011 Central Region Division One championship.
Hardbody were docked 42 points by the Central Region Disciplinary Committee but they successfully petitioned the Zifa Appeals Committee who overturned the decision of the lower court and ruled in favour of the Gweru side.
The matter has now been set for arbitration.
There have been accusations that Chingarah was somehow registered to play for Hardbody without a reverse international clearance being secured from the Namibia Football Association, as should be mandatory in transfers involving a player who had been registered with a foreign association.
The technicality, from Zifa's presentation, has been that Chingarah didn't need a reverse international clearance, to enable his registration to play in Zimbabwe, since no international clearance had been issued in the first place for him to play in Namibia.
But today The Herald can reveal that documents have emerged that show that Zifa issued an international clearance for Chingarah to play in Namibia on February 14, 2007.
The documents show that Chingarah had been registered by Blue Waters FC of Namibia on January 26 2007.
He was duly issued with a licence to play in the Namibian top-flight league on February 16, 2007, just two days after Zifa had released his international clearance.
On October 30, 2008, Chingarah was then released by Blue Waters to join Namibian club, SKW.
"We, the management of Blue Waters release the above mentioned player to SKW.
"We would like to thank him for the time he spent with us and wish him all the best for the future," wrote Blue Waters in their release letter.
Documents also show that on November 24 last year, a Zifa official, Timothy Mazhindu, wrote to the Namibia Football Association seeking clarification on the issue.
Mazhindu's letter was addressed to Titus Kunamuene, the TSM Manager and Head of Competitions in the NFA.
"The dispute is that the player (Chingarah) played for a team in our Division One for the season 2011 and it is said the player was not properly registered at the club he was playing for called Hardbody FC," wrote Mazhindu.
"Now, they were docked points and they want to appeal the decision of the disciplinary committee.
"Titus, can you recall issuing out a reverse ITC (and), if so, please furnish us with a copy as I do not have a record of the reverse ITC."
In reponse, Kunamuene wrote:
"As per your request attached hereto please find a copy of the ITC issued by the Zimbabwe FA to the Namibia FA for the above mentioned player," wrote Kunamuene.
"I DOUBLE CHECKED ABOUT THE REVERSE ITC OF CHINGARAH, MY RECORDS DO NOT REFLECT ANY ITC ISSUED TO THE ZIMBABWE FA FOR THE SAID PLAYER."
The last part of the communication should settle the dispute given that it clarifies the fact that Chingarah wasn't issued with a reverse ITC and, therefore, was ineligible to be registered to play for a Zimbabwean club on his return home.
Tripple B's Harare representative, Dickson Kanyangu, said the documents show that there was either gross negligence, on the part of those who registered Chingarah, or an attempt to rewrite the rules and regulations governing such an exercise.
"The documents clearly show that the player was not eligible to play football in this country because he had not been issued with a reverse international clearance," said Kanyangu.
"If ever there was any doubt that he needed a reverse ITC for him to play in Zimbabwe, then these documents settle that dispute once and for all.
"For him to be registered in Namibia, Zifa had to issue an ITC and it is there for the record.
"Once that was done, a reverse ITC had to be issued for him to play in another league, including here in Zimbabwe, and the Namibians are saying that such a document was never issued."
Tripple B have been questioning the validity of the clearance papers that enabled Chingarah to feature for Hardbody in the 2011 Central Region Division One championship.
Hardbody were docked 42 points by the Central Region Disciplinary Committee but they successfully petitioned the Zifa Appeals Committee who overturned the decision of the lower court and ruled in favour of the Gweru side.
The matter has now been set for arbitration.
There have been accusations that Chingarah was somehow registered to play for Hardbody without a reverse international clearance being secured from the Namibia Football Association, as should be mandatory in transfers involving a player who had been registered with a foreign association.
The technicality, from Zifa's presentation, has been that Chingarah didn't need a reverse international clearance, to enable his registration to play in Zimbabwe, since no international clearance had been issued in the first place for him to play in Namibia.
But today The Herald can reveal that documents have emerged that show that Zifa issued an international clearance for Chingarah to play in Namibia on February 14, 2007.
The documents show that Chingarah had been registered by Blue Waters FC of Namibia on January 26 2007.
He was duly issued with a licence to play in the Namibian top-flight league on February 16, 2007, just two days after Zifa had released his international clearance.
On October 30, 2008, Chingarah was then released by Blue Waters to join Namibian club, SKW.
"We, the management of Blue Waters release the above mentioned player to SKW.
"We would like to thank him for the time he spent with us and wish him all the best for the future," wrote Blue Waters in their release letter.
Documents also show that on November 24 last year, a Zifa official, Timothy Mazhindu, wrote to the Namibia Football Association seeking clarification on the issue.
"The dispute is that the player (Chingarah) played for a team in our Division One for the season 2011 and it is said the player was not properly registered at the club he was playing for called Hardbody FC," wrote Mazhindu.
"Now, they were docked points and they want to appeal the decision of the disciplinary committee.
"Titus, can you recall issuing out a reverse ITC (and), if so, please furnish us with a copy as I do not have a record of the reverse ITC."
In reponse, Kunamuene wrote:
"As per your request attached hereto please find a copy of the ITC issued by the Zimbabwe FA to the Namibia FA for the above mentioned player," wrote Kunamuene.
"I DOUBLE CHECKED ABOUT THE REVERSE ITC OF CHINGARAH, MY RECORDS DO NOT REFLECT ANY ITC ISSUED TO THE ZIMBABWE FA FOR THE SAID PLAYER."
The last part of the communication should settle the dispute given that it clarifies the fact that Chingarah wasn't issued with a reverse ITC and, therefore, was ineligible to be registered to play for a Zimbabwean club on his return home.
Tripple B's Harare representative, Dickson Kanyangu, said the documents show that there was either gross negligence, on the part of those who registered Chingarah, or an attempt to rewrite the rules and regulations governing such an exercise.
"The documents clearly show that the player was not eligible to play football in this country because he had not been issued with a reverse international clearance," said Kanyangu.
"If ever there was any doubt that he needed a reverse ITC for him to play in Zimbabwe, then these documents settle that dispute once and for all.
"For him to be registered in Namibia, Zifa had to issue an ITC and it is there for the record.
"Once that was done, a reverse ITC had to be issued for him to play in another league, including here in Zimbabwe, and the Namibians are saying that such a document was never issued."
Source - herald
