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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter

FORMER Zifa vice-president and experienced football administrator Tendai Madzorera has blasted the Zifa executive committee for what he said was blatant disregard of Fifa and its own statutes.

He also said inconsistencies in application of the Zifa constitution clearly violated good corporate governance, following the reinstatement of Zifa Bulawayo Metropolitan Province chairperson Francis Ntutha citing delays in bringing him before its judiciary body.

Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela stated that the association’s statutes clearly stipulate that anyone charged with violation should be quickly brought before their judiciary processes and this was not done in Ntutha’s case, hence the national executive committee’s decision to reinstate him.

The Zifa statutes state that upon being served with a charge, the alleged offender must appear before a judiciary body within 14 days or a congress, whichever comes first.

However, Zifa trampled on the very statues it seeks to amplify when dealing with its suspended vice-president Gift Banda.

Banda was suspended on January 17, 2019, but only appeared before the Zifa disciplinary committee on March 7, 2020.

Madzorera, who was once secretary-general of now defunct Amazulu and Premier Soccer League chairman, said as long as inconsistencies in applying the constitution continue, there will always be doubts lingering in people’s minds about the leadership’s competency, even when it’s doing well.

“It’s a whole lot of problems they have got, which they’re sadly not solving. From the start they must ensure that the constitution is a football constitution, not an individuals’ constitution, which suits certain characters in office,” said Madzorera.

“When you raise such matters as a non-Zifa councillor, you are labelled an enemy of the establishment yet we will be wanting our football sorted out. It doesn’t always mean that when one raises concerns, he is eyeing a position, but it’s all for the good of the game. I am still trying to see logic in the appointment of a board member as acting vice-president; what for?

“The constitution is clear that the vice-president acts as president when the president is not there, but in our case he (president) is there. Even when you try to do something right in a situation like this, people will just see it as wrong because they will not believe you in anything. In all honesty, these guys are not doing themselves any good,” he said.

Madzorera said Fifa funds always have specific projects and should never to be diverted under the justification that they will be replaced when they receive another tranche from Fifa.

Zifa used Fifa Forward Funds as Covid-19 relief to pay the Zimbabwe Women’s Soccer League and the four regional men’s Division One.

“When the Fifa money comes, there is no way you should divert it and say we will use it for this then we will replace it from other sources. That has never happened. If you continue making blunders along the way, even those who want to help, the corporate world we cry for everyday, will see inconsistencies in that and will say what proof is there that you won’t divert funds they will give you for a particular project? This is why there is a budget and you don’t take money from other departments. You’d rather ask for a supplementary budget; that is financial jurisprudence,” said Madzorera.