Zifa revokes Omega Sibanda's player agent licence

PROMINENT Bulawayo personality, businessman and soccer administrator Omega Sibanda had his player agent licence revoked by Zifa.

A resolution was passed by the Zifa board in Harare last Friday.

Sibanda wrote a letter to Zifa indicating that he was stepping down as the chairman of the Zimbabwe Player Agents Association so that he could take part in the elections for the Zifa Southern Region post. His rivals for the post were the eventual winner, Gift Banda, outgoing chairman, Musa Mandaza and Highlanders' Mandla Moyo.

Banda won the elections after getting nine votes, with Mandaza polling seven, Sibanda four and Moyo two.

According to Fifa statutes, a player-agent must relinquish his license if he holds office with a club or an affiliate of an association.

According to sources who attended the Zifa board meeting, the association's chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze was instructed to communicate to Sibanda that he should stop practicing.

"There are a number of things that were discussed and it came to light at the meeting that Sibanda relinquished his position as the head of soccer agents to participate in the elections. He did not re-apply to be reinstated as the head of the soccer agents and that is why the board recommended that he should step down," said a source.

In a recent telephone interview from Harare, Mashingaidze confirmed that the board spoke about Sibanda's status, but said they would act once they got the letters, which the latter wrote to renounce his license.

"What the board said on the issue is that I must look for correspondence which Mr Sibanda wrote to us last year before elections. You will recall that I was not in the office when the elections were held.

"After getting the communication, we will speak to the electoral college before we do anything. We want to make sure everything is done procedurally that is why we are looking for that communication," said Mashingaidze.

According to soccer statutes, Sibanda would have been ineligible to stand as chairman if he still was a player agent.

Questions have also been raised regarding his integrity as a chairman of the player agents' association after revelations that many of the players involved in the scandal were represented by members of his association.