By Goodwill Zunidza, Harare
ACTING Zifa president Gift Banda has surprisingly called for elections in the mother body just as he begins his murky reign at a most difficult moment for Zimbabwe football.
Banda faced the sports media for the first time since the Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC) confirmed his uncertain tenure last week following a Zifa Emergency General Meeting that restored the status of the Bulawayo-based administrator in the Zifa echelons following a lengthy suspension before elevating him to the most powerful post in local football.
They did so by axing three top members of the board, including president Felton Kamambo, who were by now already serving their own suspension meted out by the SRC on 16 November last year for as yet untested allegations.
“The executive committee will convene soon to plan how to tackle these tasks leading to the convening of our pending annual general meeting whose notice has already been served. This will give the football parliament an opportunity to install members of the electoral committee who are going to come up with an election roadmap to elect the new Zifa leadership across the spectrum.,” Banda asserted, while flanked by fellow reinstated board members, among them Premier Soccer League chairman Farai Jere, Barbara Chikosi who leads women’s football and marketing personality Sugar Chagonda.
The general notice for a Zifa Congress is understood to be three months.
The term of office of the current Zifa board expires in December this year but there is belief in some circles that SRC could extend it while Fifa also pay a blind eye as they withdrew recognition for Zifa in response to SRC’s intervention which they deemed interference.
The ex-Njube Sundowns FC proprietor – now an opposition parliamentarian representing Nkulumane constituency, was elected as Zifa vice-president in 2019 but endured the bulk of his tenure on the sidelines after being suspended by his erstwhile colleagues withonly two months in office.
But even before the envisaged occurs there remains Fifa to contend with.
The last word from the international football governing body was that they would only lift Zimbabwe’s ban from international football if SRC returns Kamambo to the fold.
The main questions Banda found himself fielding during a grilling by senior Harare journalists had to do with the validity of his new designation.
In his response, the acting Zifa president was adamant the association had played by the rules and were in communication with Fifa to explain the latest developments with a view to inducing a change of heart in Zurich.
“There is a lot happening behind the scenes and we are having fruitful conversations with Fifa,” he said with re-assurance.
The former deputy mayor for Bulawayo did not forget to thank the government for paving the way for his remarkable comeback.
“I want to thank the government…for understanding and accepting the steps taken by the owners of football that is the Zifa Congress to address the challenges facing our football leadership. The gesture is well appreciated.
He added: “There is little time for us to maneuver but we must have government’s full support even if it means meeting His Excellency (President Mnangagwa). The resources we receive from Fifa are never enough and it is government that bails us out on most occasions. We cannot work without them.”
Zimbabwe has been frozen out of all senior and junior international tournaments for both men and women courtesy of the Fifa ban and Banda will not be welcomed in his official capacity at any football event beyond the country’s borders unless Fifa shifts from its stance, which local analysts consider unlikely.
