Sports / Soccer
Zimbabwe parliament panic over 2018 Soccer World Cup
17 Jul 2015 at 07:55hrs | Views
PANIC swept across Parliament yesterday as Zimbabwe stumbled closer to missing the 2018 World Cup qualifiers as reality began to sink that for first time since Independence the nation could fail to be part of football's biggest festival.
ZIFA have to pay former Warriors coach Valinhos about $81 000 within the next seven days for Zimbabwe to be reinstated in the qualifiers and the Warriors to be included in the draw to be held in the Russian city of St Petersburg next Saturday.
FIFA appeared to be still opening a little window, as of yesterday, for Zimbabwe to be part of the nations who will go into the draw, but that, of course, depends on the resolution of the Valinhos issue, which has been dragging on for months.
"The eyes of the footballing world will be on St Petersburg on Saturday 25 July when the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia preliminary draw, the first major kick-off event ahead of the tournament itself, takes place," FIFA said on their website.
"The ceremony will be held at the historic Konstantin Palace, a bastion of Russia's rich cultural tradition.
"From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, a total of 208 nations have signed up to participate in the campaign. Russia qualify automatically as hosts and will, therefore, not be involved in the preliminary draw. For the first time in the history of the World Cup, all national teams have registered for the preliminary competition."
However, Zimbabwe have to resolve the Valinhos issue first and with just about a week for a settlement to be reached, things are not looking good and panic is now sweeping through a number of corridors, including Parliament, whose members raised a red flag yesterday during a questions without notice session in the Senate.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport, Arts and Culture yesterday also raised concern, saying ZIFA had become "dysfunctional and has no capacity, as currently structured, to raise funds for its mounting debts".
The committee's chairman, Tapiwa Matangaidze, said if urgent measures were not put in place to resolve the crisis at ZIFA, the collapse of Zimbabwe football was now inevitable.
"The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport, Arts and Culture at its last sitting on the 16th of July 2015 at 10am, whilst deliberating on the country's participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, recorded the following observation:
a) Zimbabwe has less than 10 days to comply with FIFA's directive to pay coach Valinhos to ensure the country's participation in the World Cup draw.
b) ZIFA has, and continues, to abrogate on its fundamental mandate to raise funds for the national teams, only seeking last-minute bailouts from Government.
c) ZIFA is now dysfunctional and has no capacity, as currently structured, to raise funds for its mounting debt woes.
d) Zimbabwe's football, pride and participation in tournaments is at great risk and in danger under the leadership and guidance of a clearly inept ZIFA leadership.
e) ZIFA's pronouncement of better days to come is empty rhetoric and has failed to convince the nation.
f) If urgent interventions are not made, Zimbabwe football's demise is inevitable.
"In light of these observations, the committee resolved to support that:
1. With immediate effect, the Sport and Recreation Commission, through the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, be mandated to fund-raise for football, the most pressing and immediate requirement being to clear the Valinhos debt.
2. The ZIFA leadership has lost its legitimacy and no longer has any moral ground to stay even one more day in office.
3. Stakeholders (should) seriously consider the appointment of a judicial manager to protect ZIFA assets from a probable run in by creditors. This will clearly not be Government interference."
Yesterday, senators took turns to ask Sport, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Tabeth Kanengoni-Malinga on what Government was doing about the looming exclusion of the Warriors from the 2018 World Cup draw.
First to ask was MDC-T Senator for Midlands Lilian Timvous, who sought to know what Government was doing about the World Cup ban.
Kanengoni-Malinga accused ZIFA of misleading them with promises that they would settle the debt since March this year.
"Both Cuthbert Dube and (ZIFA chief executive Jonathan) Mashingaidze had promised us, that was about three months ago, that they were going to settle the debt within two weeks, but, surprisingly, they did not," said Kanengoni-Malinga.
"In that meeting the FIFA officials advised us that if the debt was paid they would lift the ban. Again, ZIFA promised to settle the debt, but nothing has happened. Unfortunately, ZIFA has not been forthcoming to work with us so that we settle the matter.
"We have now asked the SRC to do a report on issues affecting our football. We are now awaiting that report that we should receive by early next week. As you may know, we are left with 10 days to pay or the ban will remain if we fail to pay."
Zanu-PF Senator for Matabeleland North Thokozile Mathuthu chipped in: "Does your ministry have the capacity to deal with ZIFA and Cuthbert?"
Kanengoni-Malinga said there were boundaries that made it difficult for Government to interfere with the running of football.
She said they, however, agreed with FIFA that they would come up with a tripartite team, including FIFA officials, to deliberate on the way forward of Zimbabwe's football without risking a ban from the world soccer governing body.
MDC-T Senator for Manicaland David Chimhini said the administration of the country's football was in a mess as evidenced by the problems that rocked the Mighty Warriors camp on Wednesday when they refused to train demanding their outstanding bonuses.
ZIFA president Cuthbert Dube on Wednesday expressed genuine fears that the Warriors could be excluded from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers as his association, which has been battling financial woes, did not have the capacity to meet the conditions set out by FIFA.
"We may not, unless something happens between today and next week, be able to be in the draw, which is on the 25th of this month," Dube, who was the guest of honour at the launch of the Soccer Coaches Union of Zimbabwe, said.
"The current (ZIFA) board doesn't know anything about this coach (Valinhos). In fact, I never met him. He was contracted with the involvement of a certain ministry and what happened then, I hear sums like $15 000 per month (as the coach's pay), and (what about) our own coaches?
"I don't want to mention their salaries. Yet we are able to hire a foreign coach and give him that much at the expense of locals.
"This is wrong and must be corrected. We have got another example of Tom Saintfiet, who came and I don't know how many hours he worked for the country, and he is also claiming some money from ZIFA.
"So, I am going to recommend, once again, to our board and to the Sports Commission that we must have a policy where we have local coaches for national teams.
"Our own local national coaches should be paid well. Their welfare should be top of the priorities; they must have medical aid and the school fees for their children should be provided."
While Valinhos was hired by the ZIFA board led by Wellington Nyatanga, Saintfiet was recruited by the one led by Dube.
ZIFA have struggled to pay Callisto Pasuwa, the Warriors coach, and his predecessor Ian Gorowa is also owed nine months' unpaid salaries.
ZIFA have to pay former Warriors coach Valinhos about $81 000 within the next seven days for Zimbabwe to be reinstated in the qualifiers and the Warriors to be included in the draw to be held in the Russian city of St Petersburg next Saturday.
FIFA appeared to be still opening a little window, as of yesterday, for Zimbabwe to be part of the nations who will go into the draw, but that, of course, depends on the resolution of the Valinhos issue, which has been dragging on for months.
"The eyes of the footballing world will be on St Petersburg on Saturday 25 July when the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia preliminary draw, the first major kick-off event ahead of the tournament itself, takes place," FIFA said on their website.
"The ceremony will be held at the historic Konstantin Palace, a bastion of Russia's rich cultural tradition.
"From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, a total of 208 nations have signed up to participate in the campaign. Russia qualify automatically as hosts and will, therefore, not be involved in the preliminary draw. For the first time in the history of the World Cup, all national teams have registered for the preliminary competition."
However, Zimbabwe have to resolve the Valinhos issue first and with just about a week for a settlement to be reached, things are not looking good and panic is now sweeping through a number of corridors, including Parliament, whose members raised a red flag yesterday during a questions without notice session in the Senate.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport, Arts and Culture yesterday also raised concern, saying ZIFA had become "dysfunctional and has no capacity, as currently structured, to raise funds for its mounting debts".
The committee's chairman, Tapiwa Matangaidze, said if urgent measures were not put in place to resolve the crisis at ZIFA, the collapse of Zimbabwe football was now inevitable.
"The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport, Arts and Culture at its last sitting on the 16th of July 2015 at 10am, whilst deliberating on the country's participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, recorded the following observation:
a) Zimbabwe has less than 10 days to comply with FIFA's directive to pay coach Valinhos to ensure the country's participation in the World Cup draw.
b) ZIFA has, and continues, to abrogate on its fundamental mandate to raise funds for the national teams, only seeking last-minute bailouts from Government.
c) ZIFA is now dysfunctional and has no capacity, as currently structured, to raise funds for its mounting debt woes.
d) Zimbabwe's football, pride and participation in tournaments is at great risk and in danger under the leadership and guidance of a clearly inept ZIFA leadership.
e) ZIFA's pronouncement of better days to come is empty rhetoric and has failed to convince the nation.
f) If urgent interventions are not made, Zimbabwe football's demise is inevitable.
"In light of these observations, the committee resolved to support that:
1. With immediate effect, the Sport and Recreation Commission, through the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, be mandated to fund-raise for football, the most pressing and immediate requirement being to clear the Valinhos debt.
2. The ZIFA leadership has lost its legitimacy and no longer has any moral ground to stay even one more day in office.
3. Stakeholders (should) seriously consider the appointment of a judicial manager to protect ZIFA assets from a probable run in by creditors. This will clearly not be Government interference."
Yesterday, senators took turns to ask Sport, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Tabeth Kanengoni-Malinga on what Government was doing about the looming exclusion of the Warriors from the 2018 World Cup draw.
First to ask was MDC-T Senator for Midlands Lilian Timvous, who sought to know what Government was doing about the World Cup ban.
Kanengoni-Malinga accused ZIFA of misleading them with promises that they would settle the debt since March this year.
"Both Cuthbert Dube and (ZIFA chief executive Jonathan) Mashingaidze had promised us, that was about three months ago, that they were going to settle the debt within two weeks, but, surprisingly, they did not," said Kanengoni-Malinga.
"In that meeting the FIFA officials advised us that if the debt was paid they would lift the ban. Again, ZIFA promised to settle the debt, but nothing has happened. Unfortunately, ZIFA has not been forthcoming to work with us so that we settle the matter.
"We have now asked the SRC to do a report on issues affecting our football. We are now awaiting that report that we should receive by early next week. As you may know, we are left with 10 days to pay or the ban will remain if we fail to pay."
Zanu-PF Senator for Matabeleland North Thokozile Mathuthu chipped in: "Does your ministry have the capacity to deal with ZIFA and Cuthbert?"
Kanengoni-Malinga said there were boundaries that made it difficult for Government to interfere with the running of football.
She said they, however, agreed with FIFA that they would come up with a tripartite team, including FIFA officials, to deliberate on the way forward of Zimbabwe's football without risking a ban from the world soccer governing body.
MDC-T Senator for Manicaland David Chimhini said the administration of the country's football was in a mess as evidenced by the problems that rocked the Mighty Warriors camp on Wednesday when they refused to train demanding their outstanding bonuses.
ZIFA president Cuthbert Dube on Wednesday expressed genuine fears that the Warriors could be excluded from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers as his association, which has been battling financial woes, did not have the capacity to meet the conditions set out by FIFA.
"We may not, unless something happens between today and next week, be able to be in the draw, which is on the 25th of this month," Dube, who was the guest of honour at the launch of the Soccer Coaches Union of Zimbabwe, said.
"The current (ZIFA) board doesn't know anything about this coach (Valinhos). In fact, I never met him. He was contracted with the involvement of a certain ministry and what happened then, I hear sums like $15 000 per month (as the coach's pay), and (what about) our own coaches?
"I don't want to mention their salaries. Yet we are able to hire a foreign coach and give him that much at the expense of locals.
"This is wrong and must be corrected. We have got another example of Tom Saintfiet, who came and I don't know how many hours he worked for the country, and he is also claiming some money from ZIFA.
"So, I am going to recommend, once again, to our board and to the Sports Commission that we must have a policy where we have local coaches for national teams.
"Our own local national coaches should be paid well. Their welfare should be top of the priorities; they must have medical aid and the school fees for their children should be provided."
While Valinhos was hired by the ZIFA board led by Wellington Nyatanga, Saintfiet was recruited by the one led by Dube.
ZIFA have struggled to pay Callisto Pasuwa, the Warriors coach, and his predecessor Ian Gorowa is also owed nine months' unpaid salaries.
Source - the herald
