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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
CHICKEN Inn FC have accused Zifa of reneging on its own player contract guidelines the association sent to affiliates on December 31, 2020, saying this will cause chaos in local football.

The Gamecocks are furious at losing midfielder Tichaona Chipunza to Zambian Super League side Nkana FC and expressed disappointment that Zifa cleared the player as a free agent in blatant disregard of it’s own guidelines, which state that contracts that were supposed to expire at the end of 2020 will roll over into 2021.

Chicken Inn secretary Tawengwa Hara called on Zifa to address the “contentious” player contracts issue as most clubs are in danger of losing players as free agents.

“If you look at the guidelines, they are self-explanatory and how then does Zifa decide to go against the guidelines that it sent out. They are not being sincere to clubs which carried out contractual obligations like payment of salaries in 2020 without players servicing their contracts. We believe that the guidelines are meant to protect the clubs and players, but the way things are going, it seems it is one sided,” complained Hara.

“We have written to all bodies involved in the Chipunza case to withdraw the international clearance that was fraudulently issued and we hope for football’s sake that this will be resolved to avoid setting a wrong precedence,” he said.

The Zifa guidelines stated that the rules were aimed at providing a general guideline on how the contractual issues should be governed during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“(a) Where an agreement is due to expire at the original end date of the season, such expiry be extended until the new end date of the season, or alternatively, in the event that the 2020 season is called off, the end date of the next ensuing season.

“(b) Loan transfer agreements which are due to expire at the original end date of the season are extended until the new end date of the season, or alternatively, in the event that the 2020 season is called off, the end date of the next ensuing season.

“(c) Employment contracts which are due to commence at the mid-season break are extended to expire at the new mid-season break to be set by the governing relevant Zifa affiliates.

“(d) Where an agreement is due to continue at the original start date of a new season such commencement be delayed until the new start date of a new season.

“(e) Notwithstanding the aforementioned recommendations, parties are to abide by the contractual obligations in respect to payment of the agreed salaries, and other payments due to the players during the subsistence of the contract.

“The aforementioned guidelines are in line with the general guidelines made by Fifa and are amended so as to suit our season and circumstances,” Zifa wrote to its affiliates in December clarifying the contract issue.

“We also refer to your guidelines which emphasises on the player and club to engage to clear each other (you didn’t allow that to happen).

You are well aware that the player’s status ‘as free agent as you wish’ is only declared by the player’s status committee of which you fraudulently bypassed and declared the player’s status by yourself,” Hara wrote.

Bulawayo Chiefs were the first to raise the red flag about the Zifa guidelines when their efforts to get a share from striker Perfect Chikwende’s move to Simba SC from FC Platinum hit a snag.

Just like the Gamecocks, Chiefs argued that the 2020 player contract guidelines are binding.

In the case of Chipunza, the player signed a one-year deal with the Kitwe-based side last week as a free agent, but his move was initially stalled after Chicken Inn argued that he was still their player.

Chipunza’s contract with the Gamecocks expired at the end of 2020.

Chicken Inn threatened to escalate the matter to other international football organs. — @ZililoR