Newsday
By Sports Editor
March 26 2011
Zifa convenes its watershed general assembly on Saturday since the current board chaired by Cuthbert Dube took office last year, with key administration issues and the Asiagate scandal likely to dominate the proceedings.
The meeting takes place after a board meeting which also took place yesterday and on the same day the Warriors face Mali in a crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier tonight in Bamako.
While there is obvious acrimony within the board over lack of consultations, particularly over the appointment of Norman Mapeza as Warriors coach, Dube has defended himself saying he had to make a decision before the Mali game.
He said ahead of the today’s meeting: “It was never done unilaterally; consultations were made at presidium level. The technical committee set up last year could not accomplish its task as mandated and the presidium had to take over, for expediency’s sake. We had to have a coach in time for the Mali game.â€
On the Asiagate investigations, Dube reiterated the Fifa call that fingered culprits would be brought to book.
“Our future depends on how we handle the scandal. We can’t be seen to be sweeping it under the carpet when Fifa, Caf and the general public views Zifa as a pack of corrupt officials who use football for personal gain.
“The Asiagate 1 and 2 reports shall be made available for public consumption soon and we shall not protect anyone who got dirty money. Board members, councillors and players must all come clean if they have to remain as members of the football family,†he said.
Some board members though feel the board is now a one-man band with the president making all the decisions, while some are crying foul over their exclusion from last week’s meeting with the Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture David Coltart.
The meeting is said to have been attended by Coltart, his deputy Lazarus Dokora, principal director responsible for sport Paul Damasane, Sports and Recreation Commission director-general Charles Nhemachena, director for Sports DevelopmentJoseph Muchechetere, Zifa board member (competitions) Benedict Moyo, Nigel Munyati and Solomon Mugavazi.
Focus will also be on the general standards of football, the marketing of the game and the rebranding of the national association to attract the corporate world.
Save for women football, whose revival is being driven by Mavis Gumbo, the rest of the teams, Under-23, the Chan squad and the senior national team, have failed to access funds for various assignments and have had to be bailed out by Dube from his personal pocket.