The Sunday Mail
By Fatima Bulla
20 October 2012
Henrietta Rushwaya, the former Zifa chief executive officer and susÂpected mastermind of the Asiagate match-fixÂing operation, has accepted the life ban passed on her by the mother body. Rushwaya said she still felt the verÂdict was sexist, but said she hoped it would clear the way for local football to develop.
Rushwaya, who took up employÂment at 53 Livingstone Avenue towards the end of 2006, said she got into office while the match-fixing synÂdicate had already established roots and she fell into the murky waters without knowÂing.  “I feel like they have made me an easy target because I am a woman, but this began way before I was in office and I just fell into the trap. However, I accepted being the scapegoat and I have dusted myself while moving on with my life.
 “I am sorry for those who are trying to get to grips with their sentences, but I hope with this conclusion our football continues to grow to the extent of qualÂifying for the World Cup and African Cup of Nations tournaÂments.
 “And my advice to journalists is that they have to advance their education just in case things like this happen and they end up getting stranded,†she said, without being specific. Rushwaya said she was now focused on her budding political career. In a related development, former national team captain Method MwanÂjali and Dynamos defender Guthrie Zhokinyu, who are among the 15 playÂers and officials to be handed life time bans by Zifa in the Asiagate scandal, have turned to the Footballers’ Union of Zimbabwe for help.
 Mwanjali, who plies his trade at South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, was involved in seven games while Zhokinyu took part once. Accused of betraying the country during the national team’s trips of shame to Asia, including the African Cup of Nations final qualifier in Cape Verde which Zimbabwe lost 2-1 under mysterious circumstances, the duo are pressing for leniency.
 According to Paul Gundani, the secÂretary for Footballers’ Union of ZimÂbabwe, Mwanjali was yet to receive communication regarding the ban and the same applies to Zhokinyu, who travelled with Dynamos to Kwekwe for a Mbada Cup quarter final match against GunÂners scheduled for this afternoon.
“We accept the authority of Zifa over all football issues as the supreme body. Nevertheless on Asiagate, Zifa must take cognisance of the fact that the scandal was not arranged by the players but by then Zifa officials.
 “The players were threatened with victimisation if they revealed what was happening, so we are saying Zifa should give these players suspended sentences so that in the event there is a recurrence of such shenanigins, the sentences will come into effect. “A heavy fine would have been an even better option,†Gundani appealed in an interview with the paper.
 Gundani said Mwanjali and Zhokinyu had preferred to remain mum over the issue as they await offiÂcial communication before they ponÂder the next move which will most probably be to appeal against the judgÂment.
 With Section (10) of the Fifa disciÂplinary code stating that anyone banned from football may appeal to Fifa in three days after lodging a fee of 3 000 Swiss francs (about US$3 300), Gundani said clubs should chip in to help their players.
“There are some players who are really good assets to their clubs, like Zhokinyu, and Dynamos itself is a big institution which can weigh in to help him while he commits his time to playÂing for the team. They would actually be in a better place even after the whole battle is over,†he said.
 Meanwhile, Herald senior sports editor Robson Sharuko, who was among two journalits handed a life ban by Zifa, refused to comment when reached at the weekend.
“I do not want to say anything at the moment, just that this is a process with a beginning but it will also have an endÂing,†he said and would not be drawn into saying anything more.
Former Motor Action goalkeepers’ coach Emmanuel Nyahuma said he would find an alternative sport to purÂsue.
 “It’s not fair, I never contacted anyÂone to fix matches because I was just a worker going to work and we were told that there were matches to be played and I could not question since I was an employee. However, there is nothing I can do. I will try to live without breakÂing the rules. Maybe I can turn to cricket or tennis,†Nyahuma said.
Journalist Hope Chizuzu, who had a post on the Monomotapa United execÂutive and was charged for travelÂling with the team to Malaysia where they masqueraded as th national team, was not answering his phone yesterday.
 In Johannesburg, Thomas Sweswe, however, featured for his team Kaizer Chiefs in a Telkom Cup knockout match against Bidvest Wits on Friday with commentators speculating it could be his last match while Sunday Chidzambwa was set to take charge of Black Leopards as they faced Orlando Pirates yesterday evening.
Sources said Fifa will communicate the decision to the affected clubs once they sit as a board to endorse the Zifa findings and the bans will then be effected. Mamelodi Sundowns propriÂetor Patrice Motsepe has already writÂten to the club management asking them to make an immediate decision on Mwanjali and striker Nyasha Mushekwi, who is also awaiting his senÂtence.
 Over 50 other players and officials will, in the coming weeks, learn of their punishments which will range from suspensions of six months to 10 years.
Meanwhile, according to New ZimÂbabwe.com, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart has called on Police Commissioner-GenÂeral AugusÂtine Chihuri and Attorney-GenÂeral Johannes Tomana to initiate crimÂinal proceedings against those involved in the Asiagate scandal.
An official report said national team matches were fixed by ex-Zifa offiÂcials along with convicted match-fixer WilÂson Perumal between 2007 and 2009.
“I fully support Zifa’s decision to serve life bans on various players and administrators responsible for what is undoubtedly the most shameful chapÂter of Zimbabwe’s sporting history,†Coltart said.
“I trust that the police and the AttorÂney-General will now act quickly to investigate and prosecute those identiÂfied. If they don’t, then their offices will also be tainted by this scanÂdal.
“I have no doubt that the football-loving public expects that those responsible for criminal activity should face the full wrath of the law,†Coltart was quoted as saying.