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Edzai Kasinauyo

ZIMBABWEANS must have been struck with a sense of de javu yesterday when they woke up to screaming headlines announcing the suspension of Zifa board member Edzai Kasinauyo for alleged involvement in a match-fixing syndicate that had targeted, among other games, to manipulate Zimbabwe’s 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers against Swaziland this month.

The former Zimbabwe international, who has also worked as a player agent specialising in recruiting a number of local footballers into the South African Premiership, was voted into the Zifa board on December 5, 2015, and hardly two three months later, he has been implicated in a scam which might have far reaching consequences for his future.

According to Zifa, Kasinauyo is part of a match-fixing ring which allegedly also features Warriors’ assistant coach Nation Dube, former Warriors’ coach Ian Gorowa, a former high-ranking employee of the Association previously heavily implicated in the Asiagate match-fixing scandal and two current employees of the country’s football governing        body.

Zifa also claims that a number of South Africa-based players, notably goalkeeper George Chigova and defender Partson Jaure, are also heavily implicated in the scam that has targeted matches in the South African Premiership and the Warriors. The players are reported to have been promised $5,000 each to cooperate with underworld bosses in a network which has makings of an Asiagate 2.

An unnamed Italian international, who is resident in South Africa, is also reported to have been the ring leader of the match-fixing scam and provided funding for the operation that targeted Super Diski matches, the 2015 Cosafa Cup tournament, the 2016 African Nations Championship and matches involving the Warriors.

A dossier that contains tapped telephone conversations, e-mails and sworn affidavits is at the heart of the crackdown which, according to sources who spoke to our Harare Bureau on Tuesday night, involved the participation of the country’s security organs to trap the suspects.

Surveillance on the suspects has apparently been going on for more than a month and, this week, it was decided that there was enough evidence to nail the suspects and, crucially, also ensure that the Warriors’ key 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers against Swaziland, during the Easter weekend, were not compromised.

In a statement posted on the Association’s official website on Tuesday, Zifa chief executive, Jonathan Mashingaidze, confirmed Kasinauyo’s suspension. “The Zimbabwe Football Association Executive Committee would like to inform the football fraternity and the nation at large that following its meeting held in Harare today (Tuesday, March 8, 2016), it has provisionally suspended Executive Committee member, Edzai Kasinauyo.

“The suspension has been occasioned by allegations of match-fixing ahead of the 2017 Orange Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match between Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

“Mr Kasinauyo has been fingered in the match-fixing scam and investigations are going on. The Zifa president Dr Phillip Chiyangwa will issue a statement after consultations with Cosafa, Caf, Fifa and (the) Government of Zimbabwe.”

Zifa also moved swiftly to notify world football governing body Fifa and Caf about their decision to suspend Kasinauyo who has been suspended from serving as a Zifa executive committee member and participating in all activities associated with Zimbabwe’s senior men’s national football team pending determination of his case. Zifa also asked Caf to activate the anti-match fixing and illegal betting machinery around their Swaziland fixtures and their upcoming Afcon qualifiers against Malawi and Guinea.

Zifa recently lifted all bans imposed on individuals implicated in the first high profile match-fixing scandal to rock the domestic game seven years ago. Players, coaches and individuals such as ex-Zifa chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya, former Zifa programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana, player agent Kudzi Shaba, former PSL fixtures secretary Godfrey Japajapa and coaches Clayton Munemo and Emmanuel Nyahuma, were banished from football for their part in fixing the national team’s games against questionable Asian opponents.

With the closure of Asiagate still fresh within the football fraternity, the decision by Zifa to suspended Kasinauyo and deal with match-fixing threats that they detected is commendable and should be applauded by all Zimbabweans. Asiagate seriously dented the image of football in Zimbabwe and the Chiyangwa-led board had sought to put a lid on that forgettable episode by lifting bans on all those who were implicated so that the nation starts on a fresh slate.

It is regrettable and unfortunate that the efforts of the new board are being pegged back by the latest scandal which sadly involves a former player who had a successful career and had been rewarded with a powerful post on the board. We urge Zifa to come down hard on those who have implicated if the allegations against them are proven.

The country’s number one sport can ill afford another match-fixing scandal particularly at a time when football bosses are trying to put their house in order and get the Warriors back on top of their game. The scourge of betting syndicates needs to be nipped in the bud and the culprits banished from the game for life.