Kamambo interrogates Afcon funding

Suspended Zifa president Felton Kamambo has questioned the SRC's move to fund the Warriors' preparations and participation at the Afcon finals held in Cameroon when the same Government has been failing to do so since 2018, the same year his executive committee was ushered into office.

In a 25-page document titled, "The untold story, alleged Zifa transgressions," addressed to "football stakeholders" dated 24 January 2022, that has since leaked, Kamambo also castigates the Sports and Recreation Commission for having suspended the Zifa general secretary Joseph Mamutse since 2020 yet no due processes or disciplinary processes have been conducted.

Interestingly, Kamambo himself presided over the suspension of his vice president Gift Banda in January 2019 and the Bulawayo-based businessman went for months without a trial.

He was eventually hauled before the disciplinary committee and winning his case yet he is still on the sidelines.

However, it is the audacity by Kamambo to question Government's move to assist the senior national team that will surely raise more questions than answers from both the Government corridors and the generality of football stakeholders.

Kamambo claims, in the dossier that lack of Government funding since they came into office was a hatchet job by the SRC so that it (SRC) suffocates life out of football so as to justify what he said were subsequent interventions by the supreme sports body.

"At the point of writing this report, Zifa General Secretary has been on suspension by the SRC since 2020 without any due processes or disciplinary processes conducted.

This is despite an appeal at the administrative court whose effect is to suspend the previous SRC decision as well as a Fifa communication in December 2020 directing that he be immediately reinstated.

Meanwhile, there is no hearing or any due process conducted to date to show the SRC want the conclusion of this matter in ways legal.

At the present Zifa is running on auto pilot with no general secretary and board in place and decisions are now made elsewhere to run football in Zimbabwe contrary to standing rules on football governance.

The SRC took over the Afcon 2022 tournament and has been running affairs of Zifa since the day they suspended the board.

All this is and has been the norm where spanners are thrown in our way as shall be fully explained in this document.

It is also important to note that this Zifa board has received no meaningful SRC or Government support in terms of funding since its election in 2018.

The Zifa Board had in good faith understood to mean constrains on the fiscus and hence had been soldering on its own and had never blamed anyone or the Government.

However, successive SRC attacks have now proved that the lack of financial injection from Government was mainly because the SRC wanted to suffocate life out of football to justify subsequent interventions.

In short, the SRC was hoping for our failure so they will ride on that, otherwise how can the same Government which could not put much for the past three years manage to fund our Warriors at short notice to Cameroon to the tune of US$1million as is being reported.

Save for the Afcon 2019 funding of US$53 000 which was fully acquitted, no other funding has been extended to football for the past three years," wrote Kamambo.

Kamambo also claims, in his document, that SRC has been the reason behind none football activities in the country since 2020 yet it is common knowledge that Zimbabwe, like every other country, took the decision to freeze sporting activities as a result of the deadly Covid-19 outbreak.

"There also has been no football in Zimbabwe at the insistence of the SRC in response to Covid.

Further Zifa operations and finances are religiously audited annually through both statutory audits and the Fifa Review with no serious deviations from expectations reported.

The Zifa Board has amidst these challenges:

i) qualified to Chan,

ii) qualified to  two Afcon tournaments during its tenure, iii) cleared legacy debt.

iv) The Board has sustained operations mainly with Fifa and Caf resources for its developmental programmes and competition participation without any incidences save for some attempted player mutiny during Afcon 2019 which was fully explained to Fifa and the public through press releases," wrote Kamambo.

He said his board has done far better than it's predecessors who, according to Kamambo;

i) with some Government support failed to qualify for major tournaments,

ii) accumulated legacy debts,

iii) had numerous challenges in team travel, iv) failed to pay players and coaches their dues,

v) removed junior football in Zimbabwe,

vi) ended up being red flagged by Fifa and failing to access Fifa goal project funds due to their bad standing which included failure to provide audited accounts, failure to hold AGMs, failure to fully acquit Fifa proceeds,

vii) endless fights within boards and council.

"We are therefore, at a loss of words regarding the alleged suspension by SRC and the real motive to it.

In the absence of proof to substantiate their allegations, it can only be clear that they are being driven by something else which can't be football development in Zimbabwe," said Kamambo in the document that is also in possession of Chronicle Sport.