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Zvamaida Murwira Harare Bureau
THE government has cranked up the pressure on the embattled Zifa board after Sport, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Tabitha Kanengoni-Malinga, told Parliament yesterday that Zimbabwe was ready to bear the cost of a possible suspension from Fifa to clean the mess at 53 Livingstone Avenue.

In the harshest criticism dished out on the country’s under-fire football leadership by a high-ranking government official, Kanengoni-Malinga told the National Assembly that Zifa president Cuthbert Dube and his team were “doing nothing for Zimbabwe”.

The latest attack on the Zifa board came just a day after Dube defiantly said that he will not quit, hiding behind the Fifa shield, and criticising the government for failing to assist his board with the financial resources they needed to take care of the national teams.

Dube has come under severe pressure in recent weeks to throw in the towel, with the 2015 Nations Cup finals currently underway in Equatorial Guinea providing another painful reminder of how his leadership has failed a nation that wanted to see their Warriors at the football showcase.

It is the third straight Nations Cup finals which the Warriors have failed to qualify for under Dube’s watch and the senior national team suffered the embarrassment of crashing out in the first round of the preliminary stage of the qualifiers.

Kanengoni-Malinga said the government will invoke the necessary measures, including the dissolution of the Zifa board, as part of measures to clean the mess at Zifa, drawing applause from legislators from across the political divide.

She said although Fifa regulations did not allow government interference from day-to-day running of national football associations, and were hostile towards governments who dissolve elected football association boards, there was need for the nation to bear the cost of a possible suspension from the world football family.

Shurugwi South Member of National Assembly, Tapiwa Matangaidze (Zanu-PF), had asked whether the government was concerned that Zifa had caused a lot of suffering, among the country’s football masses, in the wake of the national team’s latest failed bid to qualify for the Nations Cup finals.

In her response, during a question and answer session, Kanengoni-Malinga said the government was not happy with the way the game was being run in the country.

“It’s true that as a ministry we’re not happy with the way Zifa is running football affairs,” Kanengoni-Malinga  said.

“In terms of Fifa regulations, we shouldn’t be seen interfering. Our view as government is that it’s better that we’re suspended as a country as we clean up the mess at Zifa.

“When we complete serving the suspension we’ll return to international football at a time when we would’ve strengthened our systems.
“We’ll not be the first country to be suspended, that has been done to other countries after they felt that it was better to intervene to strengthen their football.”

Mbizo MP, Settlement Chikwinya (MDC-T), weighed in by asking Kanengoni-Malinga to explain the Fifa legal statutes which did not allow the government to act in an organisation like Zifa.

“Fifa stipulates that the government isn’t allowed to interfere with the day-to-day running of organisations like Zifa and we’re not allowed to interfere in terms of removing the leadership that has been voted in,” said Kanengoni-Malinga.

“But what we’re saying as government is that we might not be allowed to interfere but we’ve an opinion and those who voted these people in, namely Cuthbert Dube, should come to their senses and remove these people because they’re doing nothing for Zimbabwe.”

Binga North MP, Prince Dubeko Sibanda (MDC-T), asked whether the government was not crippled, in terms of intervening in the affairs of Zifa, by its failure to provide support for the association.

“You’re weakened by the lack of support to act to correct the wrong things that are happening at Zifa,” Dubeko Sibanda said.

Kanengoni-Malinga said although the government had its financial challenges, they could not just watch and let decay take root in a national organisation like Zifa.

“I’m sure everyone is aware of the financial challenges that our government is currently facing but, as a ministry, we’re doing our best to try and engage partners that can help us to get funding that will help us lift sport in different areas,” said Kanengoni-Malinga.