THE suspended ZIFA board yesterday made a summersault on their decision to stop interfering in the management of domestic football when they released a statement declaring the appointment of Norman Mapeza as coach to lead the Warriors at the upcoming AFCON tournament in Cameroon null and void.
The statement was in contradiction to the position they had taken 48 hours earlier. They announced they had accepted their suspension by the Sports and Recreation Commission and were “taking a back seat” in local football matters until FIFA or the Administrative Court had given them guidance.
But after the ZIFA secretariat announced on Thursday that Mapeza had been rehired on an interim basis to plug the gaps ahead of the AFCON tournament set for next month, the suspended board stepped out to trash the appointment.
It also emerged yesterday that Mapeza was yet to put pen to paper although he confirmed he has been involved in talks with the ZIFA secretariat, in consultation with the Sports Commission.
“The Board has learnt through various media articles that certain decisions that are a preserve of the ZIFA Board are being taken on behalf of ZIFA.
“The ZIFA Board would want to inform all stakeholders that any such decisions, contracts or agreements reached under the auspices of ZIFA are null and void ab initio and therefore of no legal effect.
“The ZIFA Board advises stakeholders that anyone who goes into contractual relationship with ZIFA in the absence or without express authority of the legitimate ZIFA Board is doing so at their own risk and that ZIFA will not honour any obligations arising out of such agreements even is such are on ZIFA letter heads or purportedly signed by any member of the ZIFA secretariat but without express ZIFA Board authority.
“Of particular note is the fact that the ZIFA Board has not appointed any National Team Coach, neither have it appointed any Acting General Secretary.”
But it emerged yesterday that Mapeza was still to conclude some house-keeping issues with ZIFA before he could take up the job officially.
“I can confirm that talks have been going on with ZIFA and they are at an advanced stage,” said Mapeza’s manager Gibson Mahachi.
“But the coach is yet to put pen to paper. There are still some house-keeping issues that need to be finalised, like ZIFA writing to FC Platinum notifying them of the development. It’s those small things but they do matter.”
However, the suspended board yesterday said no one had the right to appoint a coach except the ZIFA board, which at the moment is non-existent. Zimbabwe have less than a month to prepare for the AFCON tournament, which kicks off on January 9.
The move by the suspended board has been viewed as desperate attempts to derail the Warriors’ participation at AFCON, in order to settle scores in their fights with the Sports Commission.
The Felton Kamambo-led ZIFA board was suspended last month by the Sports and Recreation Commission in terms of Section 30 (i) (c) of the SRC Act.
The board members faced a litany of charges that included financial mismanagement and lack of accountability in the use of public funds, with specific reference to how public funds were spent during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.
The suspended board members have noted an appeal at the Administrative Court. Of note is that they backed down on their insistence that they should resume their duties on account of the appeal.
They also said they will not interfere in the management of the game until the pending case of suspension is dealt with.
“While the ZIFA Board is totally convinced that its appeal did suspend the SRC decision, it cannot however be involved in physical confrontation with the regulator (SRC).
“As such, the ZIFA Board advises the nation that, in order to avoid unnecessary drama, it shall for now take a back seat until guidance from FIFA has been received, full prosecution of the Admin Court appeal or as and when the SRC decides to obey the laws of the land, whichever will come first.
“In this particular instance, the Board will not therefore be further involved in the day to day running of the FA in order to avoid confrontational exchanges with the SRC,” said the ZIFA board in their statement on Wednesday. ONLINE
