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Cuthbert Dube

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Zifa president Cuthbert Dube is still a member of the Caf standing committee responsible for the organisation of the Under-20 Championships, three months after his ouster.

Dube sits in the 15-member committee chaired by Amadon Diakile of Mali, whose deputy is Constant Omari Selemani from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ironically, Dube was appointed into the committee at a time the Zimbabwe Under-17 and Under-20 national teams were under suspension from participating in the tournament and will only resume their participation this year.

The 12th edition of the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations will be held in Madagascar, while neighbouring Zambia will play host to the 20th edition of the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations finals.

Junior Binyam of the Caf media department said Caf committee members are proposed by member associations and their terms run for two years.

“Members of Caf committees are proposed by association members for a cycle of two years. Each member association has a quota. The present cycle is 2015-2017 and the committee members were appointed by the Caf executive committee last May in Zurich, Switzerland,” said Binyam.

The standing committee members are usually chosen from association presidents, but the Caf statutes seem to be silent on what happens should a member die or is removed from office before the expiry of his or her term, like Dube.

Meanwhile, Caf is set to increase its number of representatives in the powerful Fifa council if proposals by the Fifa Review Committee are adopted at the world football governing body’s elective extraordinary general meeting set for February 26.

The proposal, among one of the many wide ranging changes that will change the face of football, will see African representatives in the Fifa council increasing from three to six to match that of their richer counterparts Uefa and the Asian Football Confederation.

Regional sources yesterday said Cosafa, which has the highest number of associations in Caf’s six zones, wants to use the numbers’ game to push as many of its members into the Caf executive committee and the Fifa council.

The plan was reportedly put into motion when Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa was invited to attend the South African Football Association’s annual general meeting, which was followed by the Cosafa annual general meeting.

According to the draft proposal, Fifa standing committee members will be reduced from the present 26 to just nine in an effort to increase efficiency and all the nine committees will be chaired by a member of the Fifa council.

Caf, however, will have to call its own extraordinary meeting after the February 26 Fifa congress where members will then elect the confederation’s representatives in the Fifa council.

“The reforms at Fifa level have to be adopted first and then Caf will make the necessary changes to its own statutes and submit them to the Caf General Assembly for approval and that cannot be done prior to the Fifa congress,” said Binyam.