By Kevin Mapasure
THE recently suspended Zifa board lost the Premier Soccer League (PSL) backing following attempts at reducing the elite league’s votes in the association’s congress.
Zifa drew up a draft constitution that, if adopted, would have seen the PSL having just six delegates in the congress compared to the current 18.
Members of the Zifa executive committee are currently at loggerheads with some congress members who are demanding an emergency general meeting (EGM).
The meeting had been pencilled for last week, but Fifa gave Felton Kamambo’s team temporary reprieve ruling that only the board could organise such a meeting.
Failure by the executive committee to organise the meeting within 90 days would give congress members the power to call for the meeting.
Twenty-seven congress members, dominated by PSL clubs, have signed a petition demanding the holding of an EGM.
Some of the Zifa board members are seemingly reluctant to endorse the meeting with Kamambo, Philemon Machana and Bryton Malandule likely to be dismissed.
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This week, they wrote to suspend nine congress members, but fellow Zifa executive committee members, Barbra Chikosi, Farai Jere and Sugar Chagonda distanced themselves from the decision.
More councillors have joined the push for the EGM, which is likely to be organised by the congress members.
Sources have said that the Zifa executive committee members want to organise and control the course of the EGM, but are handicapped as they do not have the funds to do so.
They have been stopped from accessing Zifa accounts.
The Zifa executive committee found itself on the ropes after it emerged that it was trying to dilute the PSL’s voting powers.
In the draft constitution, only the management committee would be members of the congress.
The PSL was irked by the distribution of COVID-19 relief funds where they were given the money in local currency despite the funds having been disbursed by Fifa and Caf in United States dollars.
Congress wants the Zifa executive committee to explain how they used the COVID-19 relief funds as the football mother body held on to a large chunk of the funds.
At the EGM, congress will demand an explanation on why Zifa swept match fixing and sexual abuse charges levelled against some members under the carpet.
The draft constitution sets the number of executive committee meetings at 12 per year with each of the nine members getting $1 000 per sitting. Such meetings would gobble about $108 000 per year. The majority of congress members are not happy with some of the articles in the constitution and want it revisited.
- Follow Kevin on Twitter@kevinmapasure
