Fifa confirms ZIFA end of term

FIFA yesterday (Thursday) wrote a letter to ZIFA General Secretary Joseph Mamutse confirming that, contrary to a view held by ZIFA lawyer, Itai Ndudzo and those of his opinion, (that Chiyangwa still have 22 months to run), the term of Congress and that of Executive Committee actually ended on March 30, 2018, 263Sports.com reported.

The letter, which Mamutse was expected to publish and furnish the SRC with the same, has predictably not been forwarded to his usual mouthpiece, which, if the message was different, could have been headline news today.

Ironically, the letter came on the same day Mamutse was advising Xolisani Gwesela, the Communication Manager, to go on forced leave as reported last week by The Page. Timothy Mazhindu, TMS Manager, Melanie Chifamba, bookkeeper and Maguraushe of Women desk, were also told to go on leave and Mamutse is already looking for a bookkeeper replacement.

What is interesting is that Rose Kanonge called for a meeting for women football at 160 Enterprise today. The agenda is not known but clubs with teams playing in the top league were also invited.

FIFA letter was emphatic and short. "After careful consideration of the matter and having read all submissions from all football stakeholders on the ZIFA case, it is clear that the term of office of the ZIFA Congress under consideration ran from 27 March 2014 to March 29 2018.

"The ZIFA constitution is clear on the length of term of Congress and that there is no provision for extension. The term of executive committee is four years and can not go beyond that of Congress that elected it. That is the legal position and in that case all positions are deemed vacant," wrote Fifa in a letter addressed to Mamutse.

The letter which was also copied to SRC put to bed all the noise surrounding the case. No immediate release of the same could be made from SRC as both chairman Edward Siwela and Acting Director General, Joseph Muchechetere are away in Maseru for the African Union Sports Council Region 5 meeting.

Meanwhile the trio of former ZIFA executive committee members of Chiyangwa, Omega Sibanda and Phelimon Machana have actively joined politics in contravention of FIFA Ethics Code that prohibits participation in national politics for any member of the Fifa family.

Article 15 (c) of the Ethics Code says : "Congress may expel a member if it loses the status of an Association representing Association in its country"
Art 15.2 The presence of an absolute majority of members entitled to vote at the Congress is necessary for an expulsion to be valid and the motion of expulsion must be adopted by three quarter majority of the votes cast".

So the Fifa letter clarifies the position of former ZIFA President and his acolytes in that the confirmation of the expiry of their terms, nullifies any claim they held, including their visa application to travel to Moscow for the 2018 World Cup which runs from June 14-July 15. However Fifa Congress, which is not elective this time around will run from June 11 to 14 and Chiyangwa and co had lined up for that but will not be able to do that now as espoused in Ethics Code art 15 (c).

The moment a member of Fifa dabbles in national politics, he automatically ceases to be a member. Even CAF President Ahmad, had to resign from his government position when he took over in March last year as provided for in the Fifa Ethics Code statutes.

So the trio of former ZIFA executive committee members can not even contest in elections that constitute the ZIFA Congress and subsequently the executive committee because of their involvement in national, public politics.

Now for the new page and SRC are firmly under spotlight....and no serious political party can afford to ignore this important constituency called football. Any government that ignores that, ignores the reality of numbers. Let the games begin.