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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA affiliates have been instructed to submit reports and proof on how they spent the Fifa, Caf Covid-19 relief funds which they got between July and October.

Fifa released over US$1 billion to be shared by all its 211-member associations as part of bailing out football from the devastating effects of Covid-19 that virtually grounded all sporting activity worldwide and changed the everyday way of life.

Zifa got about US$1.8 million from Fifa and Caf to ease the burden of its affiliates during the Covid-19 induced suspension of activity.

Xolisani Gwesela, Zifa communications and competitions manager said all affiliates have received their share and as part of “accountability and transparency” the association is demanding reports and proof that the Covid-19 funds were not abused.

“Now that everyone has received their Covid-19 relief funds, the affiliates have to submit reports detailing how they spent the funds by November 25. Remember that these funds are coming from Fifa and Caf, hence the need to account for every cent,” said Gwesela.

Zifa’s requests for reports coincidentally come less than a month after Government took interest on how the association used the US$1.8 million it received from Fifa as Covid-19 relief funds and will engage the national association soon.

Last month, Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry told senators that while the Government was not allowed to interfere with any money coming from Fifa, it was aware of the fund and would ask Fifa to confirm what exactly the money was for.

She was responding to a question from Senator Piniel Denga, who said there are rumours circulating that the Fifa Covid-19 relief fund can’t be properly accounted for and wanted to know what the ministry was doing about it.

Minister Coventry said the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) had been briefed about the rumours of abuse and was presently seized with the matter

The money was distributed across all Zifa affiliates, with the women’s soccer being the first beneficiaries, where each of the four regions got an equivalent of US$20 000 according to the association’s revised schedule of Covid-19 funds.

The other Covid-19 beneficiaries were Beach Soccer US$10 000, Futsal (US$10 000), NAPH (US$5 000), NASH (US$5 000), Area Zones (US$10 000).

However, Southern Region clubs affiliated to Bulawayo and Matabeleland North Provinces’ Futsal league claim they were left out of benefitting from the Fifa Covid-19 bailout funds.

Matabeleland North has been running a Futsal league with six teams and these are Black Rock, Iwisa, Makwika, Kamandama, FC Zambezi and Power Dynamos.

The Bulawayo league, which plays at the Fifa Grassroots Centre in Gwabalanda, is made up of 2019 champions Bulawayo Artists United, Flying Stars, Fox FC, Cash Money FC, Amabhubesi FC, Street Set FC and Killmanock FC.

Coaches got US$10 000, with referees getting a total of US$110 000.

The men’s four regions each got an equivalent of US$100 000. ZIFA Southern Region revealed that its share was $1,6 million, with each Division One club getting $60 000.

The Southern Region has 18 Division One teams, meaning $1 080 000 was channelled to clubs, with $520 000 being retained for administrative purposes.

Zifa Southern Region chairman Andrew Tapela said his committee resolved that all clubs that paid affiliation fees in full get $60 000.

The Premier Soccer League got the biggest chunk ($25,7 million, about US$390 197) of the total relief fund.

Each of the 18 topflight clubs will get an equivalent of about US$5 000, with the bulk of the money going towards Covid-19 tests for players and support staff.

Zifa slashed the initial US$20 000 it had allocated to the PSL for administration in facilitation of the safe return of football.

The PSL wrote to Zifa seeking clarity on the matter, arguing that as the topflight league with over 750 employees, they deserved a larger share of the cake.

Having won the battle for Zifa to deposit the Covid-19 funds in their nostro accounts instead of being paid in local currency, the clubs wanted the national association to address the issue of the second tranche of US$66 000 that was wiped out from the revised schedule.

The clubs also sought clarification on the payment of the US$50 000 Fifa Forward 2.0 allocation which PSL clubs say should be paid to them. — @ZililoR