Fifa development officer for the East and Southern Region, Ashford Mamelodi, has demanded Zifa must produce the first draft of its constitution by the end of February.
Mamelodi, on a one-day tour of the Zifa Village on Monday, met the constitutional review committee and laid down the law, giving the committee timeframes to produce the document during closed-door meetings.
Zifa communications manager Nicky Dhlamini said February 28 has been set as the deadline for the first draft.
The committee includes lawyers Tinofara Hove, Cosmas Mukwesha, Tim Sangarwe and Tawengwa Hara with Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze appointed ex officio member.
“He (Mamelodi) met the committee and set three benchmarks for them — that they should have three meetings to plan their programme of action, all affiliates to make their submissions on the rules and regulations of the game and constitution by December 31 2012 and that the outreach programme for all the four regions be completed by 15 February 2012.
“After that, the first draft should be produced at an extraordinary meeting by February 28 and the final draft by March at the annual general meeting for purposes of ratification of the amendments by the council,” Dhlamini said.
Zifa has set itself the ambitious target of November 26 for the production of the draft.
“The committee should come up with a draft document in respect of the constitution and the rules and regulations for tabling at the extraordinary general meeting of the assembly set for the 26th November, 2011 in Harare,” Mashingaidze had said at the commissioning of the committee.
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But, with Hove, Mukwesha, Sangarwe and Hara having gained football experience from working for either Zifa or the Premier Soccer League (PSL), expectations are high the quartet will produce a document that will finally end the confusion that has dogged previous Zifa constitutions.
Hove and Sangarwe have served on various Zifa disciplinary boards while Mukwesha was a regular member of previous PSL disciplinary committees and Hara is a Njube Sundowns director, currently serving on the top-flight league’s executive led by Twine Phiri.
Mashingaidze said it was also imperative the constitutional review committee dealt with the issue of the association’s emergency committee and composition of the Zifa board.
Turning to the Zifa Village and the Goal Project, Dhlamini said: “The site handover must be done by the third week of January while proposals for the third phase of the Goal Project should be complete by February 1 for submission to Fifa for approval.
“Mamelodi insisted the Zifa Village must be habitable by February 1 2012.”
The completion of the Zifa Village will go a long way in easing the financial burden on Zifa in terms of facilities like accommodation and training grounds for different national teams that visit.
“There is also the issue of a grassroots programme that has to be rolled out across the country and the committee that has officials from Zifa, the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, NAPH (National Association of Primary Heads) and the SRC (Sports and Recreation Council) will have to meet soon and set up targets for their programme,” Dhlamini said.
