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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zifa executive committee is set to authorise a forensic audit of the national association’s books next week as part of moves to salvage its bruised and battered image, and transform it into a viable institution.

This comes days after Zifa ordered a forensic audit of its biggest affiliate, the Premier Soccer League, scrutinising all sponsorship deals, including the live match broadcasts with South African pay-per-view channel SuperSport.

Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa said the forensic audit, which he promised to carry out during his election campaign last year, will be officially authorised next week when the executive committee meets on Tuesday.

“That process begins next week. We’re not going back on it,” said Chiyangwa in a telephone interview from Dubai, where he is on a business trip.

Zifa made a loss of $6,815,369 as of December 2014, according to an audit report by audit firm Baker Tilly Gwatidzo. The audit firm also noted in the same report that “most transactions are accounted for on payment basis and expenses are not accrued and therefore the liabilities maybe under stated”.

Baker Tilly Gwatidzo refused to express an opinion on the Zifa financial position, but instead issued a damning report on how funds were being used and abused at the national association.

An auditor makes an opinion based on two positions; the first being when things are okay, where they will say the financial statement shows a true and fair view of the organisation, while the second is when auditors say the financial statement does not reflect a fair and true view of the organisation. This means the financial statement that would have been presented for audit does not reflect the exact activities of the organisation.

The auditors noted that significant Zifa income comprised donations and grants, and as a result it was impracticable to implement accounting controls prior to entry of such income in the books of accounts.

“Whilst we’ve no reason to believe that there is any unrecorded income of this nature, we were unable to confirm this. Our tests were confined to recorded receipts.

“The organisation has suffered significant losses due to litigations and continues to incur further expenses to meet its day-to-day operations, most of which are on credit. Most transactions are accounted for on payment basis and expenses are not accrued and therefore the liabilities may be under stated. The total liabilities amount to $6,850,535 as at December 31, 2014. Due to the absence of a consistent accruals system for expenses, we cannot express an opinion on the completeness of creditors and contingencies disclosed,” read part of the auditors’ report.

The auditors said because of the significance of the matter, the consolidated financial statement did not fairly represent the financial position of Zifa.