Sports / Local
Zifa suspend Gift Banda for reshuffling the Warriors technical team
17 Jan 2019 at 00:10hrs | Views
JUST a month after coming into power, the Zifa board have been rocked by a tsunami with vice-president Gift Banda being suspended yesterday following a meeting of the game's leaders held in the capital.
The Bulawayo-based football administrator, who was a runaway winner in the battle for the Zifa vice-presidency, was suspended for allegedly reshuffling the Warriors technical team without the blessing of his boss, Felton Kamambo, and other board members.
Banda, who was Zifa acting president when he announced that Rahman Gumbo and Lloyd Mutasa had been relieved of their duties and replaced by Bongani Mafu and Tonderai Ndiraya, was said to have acted beyond the jurisdiction of his authority.
In arguments presented to his fellow board members yesterday, Banda said he felt his role as the acting president empowered him to make such decisions.
He even suggested that if what he did was out of line with the constitution, then the board had the power to reverse the appointments and stick with the old Warriors technical set-up.
Kamambo was out of the country in Senegal for the Caf awards at the time.
The appointments of Ndiraya and Mafu had to be ratified at the Zifa board meeting which was held yesterday but things quickly took a nasty turn when Banda was asked to leave the room while other board members discussed the issue. While the board could have merely chosen not to ratify the appointments of Ndiraya and Mafu, if they felt they had not been done according to their constitution, they decided that punitive measures should be meted on the Zifa vice-president.
The matter was taken to a vote and four of the seven remaining members voted for Banda to be suspended, pending the confirmation of his suspension by the Zifa Council at the association's annual meeting in March, while three voted for him to be retained as the vice-president.
Ironically, Banda, who received 35 votes from Councillors in a strong showing in his successful battle to become the Zifa vice-president just a month ago, had his fate sealed by just four votes from his fellow board members.
Interestingly, a margin of one vote was all that mattered for him to be suspended from his post and he becomes the first Zifa vice-president to meet such a fate since Kenny Marange was also kicked out of the board by the leadership of Cuthbert Dube eight years ago.
It's the first time that a Zifa vice-president, the second most powerful man in the management of the game in the country, has been booted out after just one month.
Zifa boss Kamambo had, interestingly, told the domestic football family that his leadership will not suspend any of the board members because he felt such a system crippled the operations of the leadership of the game. However, things changed dramatically yesterday when Banda was shown the red card by his fellow board members just one month after coming into office.
Banda refused to comment on the developments yesterday saying he will release a comprehensive response in due course.
The Bulawayo-based football administrator, who was a runaway winner in the battle for the Zifa vice-presidency, was suspended for allegedly reshuffling the Warriors technical team without the blessing of his boss, Felton Kamambo, and other board members.
Banda, who was Zifa acting president when he announced that Rahman Gumbo and Lloyd Mutasa had been relieved of their duties and replaced by Bongani Mafu and Tonderai Ndiraya, was said to have acted beyond the jurisdiction of his authority.
In arguments presented to his fellow board members yesterday, Banda said he felt his role as the acting president empowered him to make such decisions.
He even suggested that if what he did was out of line with the constitution, then the board had the power to reverse the appointments and stick with the old Warriors technical set-up.
Kamambo was out of the country in Senegal for the Caf awards at the time.
The matter was taken to a vote and four of the seven remaining members voted for Banda to be suspended, pending the confirmation of his suspension by the Zifa Council at the association's annual meeting in March, while three voted for him to be retained as the vice-president.
Ironically, Banda, who received 35 votes from Councillors in a strong showing in his successful battle to become the Zifa vice-president just a month ago, had his fate sealed by just four votes from his fellow board members.
Interestingly, a margin of one vote was all that mattered for him to be suspended from his post and he becomes the first Zifa vice-president to meet such a fate since Kenny Marange was also kicked out of the board by the leadership of Cuthbert Dube eight years ago.
It's the first time that a Zifa vice-president, the second most powerful man in the management of the game in the country, has been booted out after just one month.
Zifa boss Kamambo had, interestingly, told the domestic football family that his leadership will not suspend any of the board members because he felt such a system crippled the operations of the leadership of the game. However, things changed dramatically yesterday when Banda was shown the red card by his fellow board members just one month after coming into office.
Banda refused to comment on the developments yesterday saying he will release a comprehensive response in due course.
Source - chronicle
