NATIONAL Football Association of Zimbabwe (Nafaz) president Philip Chiyangwa was yesterday grilled by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport over his decision to dissolve the debt-ridden Zifa, but maintained that what they had done was necessary and above board.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The old local football governing body Zifa was dissolved on June 4, which led to the formation of a new outfit Nafaz, which is, however, yet to be registered by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).
Chiyangwa, who now leads Nafaz, approached the High Court seeking to have Zifa placed under trustee management.
Yesterday, the Harare businessman was accompanied by his deputy Omega Sibanda, legal advisor Itai Ndudzo and Nafaz chief excecutive officer Kenny Ndebele.
Chiyangwa apprised Parliament on his successes since taking over, which include the Warriors qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations finals to be held in Gabon next year, while also highlighting the association’s financial problems, which led to the decision to dissolve Zifa.
During the question-and-answer session, Chiyangwa responded to some of the questions before asking to be excused since he had to travel to South Africa for medical treatment.
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Education, Arts, Sports and Culture Parliamentary Portfolio Committee chairman Never Khanye quizzed Chiyangwa if they had consulted with all stakeholders before dissolving Zifa.
Chiyangwa, however, argued they had followed due process before making the decision.
“The association of Zifa is a conglomerate of various players who are throughout the country, from the area, regional and provincial zones. These are the persons who are elected from the controlling body of Zifa, thus those persons in their own right are the only and absolute authority in Zimbabwe answerable to Fifa and we are sanctioned by our own statutes which are the constitution and electoral court,” he said.
“Full consultations were made from the moment we started talking about it as early as January when we discovered that we were insolvent. That’s when we decided to dissolve Zifa. And those persons who were in that congress are the same persons who made the decision,” he said.
Emakhandeni-Entumbane MP Dingilizwe Tshuma questioned if it was ethical for the Chiyangwa-led association to accept financial support from controversial businessman Wicknell Chivayo, who was convicted of money-laundering 2005.
Chiyangwa defended the decision, saying the Warriors’ qualification to the Afcon finals owed so much to Chivayo’s financial support.
“I didn’t look at the personality or character of the person, but I needed money to help football in Zimbabwe. The beneficiaries are there, the results are there. (Qualification for) Afcon is Wicknell Chivayo’s achievement from his money. We don’t rate ethics when we are receiving donations. It’s a nullity. If it’s something within our legalities, then direct me. I won’t check, I need money,” Chiyangwa said before asking to be excused.
His bid to leave his deputy Omega Sibanda in charge after asking to be excused was turned down, with the committee saying the hearing would be adjourned to a later date when he would be available.
Earlier, former Premier Soccer League chief excecutive Chris Sambo also appeared before the same committee where he accused the acting SRC director-general Joseph Muchechetere of lying to the world football governing body, Fifa, that Zifa’s sequestration process had been completed.
“On June 11, Mr Joseph Muchechetere, who is the acting SRC director-general, co-authored the document, where they wrote to Fifa advising that the sequestration process of Nafaz had been completed,” said Sambo, who is also the secretary-general of the Life Long Footballers’ Trust of Zimbabwe.
“Mr Chairman, this was a complete fabrication of the truth. That document was falsified. The SRC is supposed to be the mother. They are supposed to superintend and help bring sanity to football in this country, but we are now faced with a situation whereby they have not been helpful as far as the current crisis is concerned. We believe that football has got to be saved. We have a crisis. Creditors have been shortchanged, employees have been thrown onto the streets and normalcy has to be restored back to our football,” he said.
Meanwhile, some creditors, who include Daisy Lodge, also told the committee how Zifa initially promised to honour their obligations before suddenly deciding to dissolve the association in a bid to avoid its responsibilities.
