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Ashford Mamelodi

Ngqwele Dube Sports Correspondent
FIFA yesterday said the participation of the Zifa presidium in the national association’s sub-committees will hinder their oversight roles and is contrary to the world football governing body’s best practice.

Fifa Southern and Eastern Region development officer Ashford Mamelodi said the top leadership of associations should maintain a distance from committees to ensure they can intervene with clean hands and resolve any issues that may arise within those sub-bodies.

He said although there was no rule barring the presidium from chairing sub-committees, the concern was that it could hinder them (presidium) from performing their oversight role.

Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa chairs the referees’ committee, while his deputy Omega Sibanda chairs four committees, the technical development, human resources, high performance and ad-hoc disciplinary.

In 2014, Sibanda, then deputy in the Cuthbert Dube-led Zifa administration, relinquished his post as chairman of the referees’ committee following an induction meeting facilitated by Mamelodi. He had advised the board that the presidium should not take any other roles, saying it was in the best interest of running the sport, hence changes had to be made.

“The presidium should always be two steps above every other body and they should not entangle themselves in the committees because issues can arise within those sub-bodies and once a president or vice-president is involved, then how do they handle the matter. We feel they (presidium) should play an oversight role on those bodies to ensure everything is running smoothly,” said Mamelodi in an interview yesterday.

He said he was aware that the referees’ situation was a contentious issue in Zimbabwean football and hence Chiyangwa could have decided to chair it to restore order.

“Countries are different and I know in Zimbabwe the referees’ issue is contentious, but the presidium should generally keep an eye over all committees,” Mamelodi said.

Chiyangwa justified his chairing of the referees’ committee by citing the “crisis” that had seemingly engulfed refereeing in local football.

He said he had to take charge of the committee and restore order as the situation was spiralling out of control.

Chiyangwa said he thought he had done well by appointing Edzai Kasinauyo, who was later expelled over match fixing allegations, and when he gave the responsibility to the Premier Soccer League chairman, there was also some hullabaloo in the media.

“The referees committee is a sensitive one and that is why I decided to take charge to ensure that we bring sanity to the situation. I just had to take the bull by the horns and restore order,” said Chiyangwa.

Mamelodi said he would be visiting Zimbabwe soon to engage Zifa and other players in the football fraternity on a “wide range of issues”.