Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa is now embarrassing himself with his continued hold on power and the sooner he steps aside and allows the secretary-general to step in the better.
NEWSDAY COMMENT
Constitutionally, Chiyangwa can no longer claim to be the Zifa president, as it is public knowledge that he was voted in to serve the remainder of his predecessor, Cuthbert Dube’s term.
The referral to Fifa to adjudicate whether Chiyangwa was serving out Dube’s term was unnecessary, a waste of time and an effort to delay the inevitable.
But the resignation of two board members and Premier Soccer League chairman, Keni Mubaiwa’s snubbing of a board post puts Chiyangwa in an unenviable position and he should do the right thing and step aside.
Chiyangwa may use all manner of technicalities and stalling practices, but if he is a man of integrity, who believes he has done well at the helm of Zifa, then there is no harm in stepping aside and contesting again for the position.
Conspiracies have been bandied about, but this is not good for our football and if Chiyangwa is to avoid further embarrassment, then he should step aside and call for an elective meeting, where he can decide to be a candidate or not.
While Chiyangwa can boast of many successes during his short term, there have been some missteps along the way, particularly trying to change the football governing body’s name to National Football Association of Zimbabwe.
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Chiyangwa did not cover himself in glory when Zifa got tangled in the Premier Soccer League relegation issue, which threatened sponsorship for the country’s top league.
There was also the dodgy and farcical sponsorship of Zifa by businessman, Wicknell Chivayo, which seemed questionable from the outset.
But he can point out that Zimbabwe made a return to the Africa Cup of Nations finals during his tenure, the men’s national team won the Cosafa tournament, while the women’s national team made it to the Olympics.
These are quite stellar achievements, which no one can begrudge Chiyangwa and these could be used as a platform for his campaign.
But no, Chiyangwa decides to forego elections when it is clear that his hold on the post is quite tenuous and at worst even unconstitutional.
We urge Chiyangwa to avoid dragging local football into an abyss, leave the running of Zifa to the secretary-general and call for elections at the earliest possible time. If he is obstinate, then a crisis is inevitable.
