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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Highlanders Football Club vice chairman and losing Zifa vice presidential candidate, Elkanah Dube, has distanced himself from a petition presented to the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Andrew Langa by two football pressure groups.The two groups, the Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association (ZNSSA) and little known Lifelong Footballers Trust of Zimbabwe, presented an 18-page document to Minister Langa which urged him to disband the Cuthbert Dube-led Zifa board.

The two groups called on Minister Langa to appoint what they termed a Normalisation Committee that would run and restructure Zifa in the interim.

According to our sister paper, Sunday News, some of the proposed members of the “Zifa Normalisation Committee” were  past football administrators who included former Lancashire Steel FC administrator and PSL secretary-general Mwandibuya Mutepfa, former Highlanders vice-chairman Elkanah Dube, former FC Platinum chairman Nathan Shoko, Stanley Kudenga, who was part of the administration of former PSL outfit Eagles FC, Joseph Paganga, a former referee and administrator, Charlie Jones, Paddington Japajapa, a former women’s soccer administrator who is now the ZNSSA communications and public relations officer, and Elizabeth Banda who was once part of the local women’s soccer administration.

“Let me categorically state that I wasn’t and I’m still not part of these petitioners and I know totally nothing about all this. Whoever did that did so without my knowledge, the only time I was involved with Zifa issues was when I contested for the post of vice president which I lost fairly  to Omega Sibanda,” said Dube, an educationist with many years of dedicated and loyal service to the sport.

He is presently the chief executive officer of the Local Organising Committee of the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games held in Bulawayo last December.

“Maybe some of those people mentioned as part of the Normalisation Committee were consulted before and it will seem like I too was consulted and am aware and behind the call to suspend the Zifa board but like I said, I’m just a poor chap based here in Bulawayo,” said Dube.