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Innocent Kurira, [email protected]

THE Zifa Normalisation Committee (NC) says it is working flat out to ensure local football is run professionally.

Zifa’s Normalisation Committee might be staying put for some time, after rumours that Fifa have tentatively agreed to extend its chairperson, Lincoln Mutasa’s mandate beyond June 30.

Fifa often sets normalisation committees to run national associations when there are problems.

In recent years Ghana, Namibia, Pakistan, Trinidad and Egypt have had NCs and these had their terms extended.

The NC is on a nationwide consultation programme with football stakeholders around the country. 

They were in Bulawayo over the weekend.

Some of the key issues being discussed include regularising and capacitating football structures from grassroots to the national teams, statutory compliance, which deals with clubs having constitutions as well as congress and representation.

Another issue also tackled was the creation of equal opportunities for both women and men. 

Mutasa says the meetings, which have been taken to Mutare and Masvingo.

He is happy with the outcome of the deliberations.

“There are a lot of takeaways from these engagements. Firstly, this has given us an opportunity to come out and actually meet the people who are responsible for conducting football in the country. It’s amazing that wherever we are going, the feedback is the same. 

“People want football. There are also concerns that they are not being heard. So, l think this is their opportunity to hear from us and we hear from them,” said Mutasa. 

He emphasized the need for football to be run professionally.

“The area we are trying to tackle is, there is no point just rebranding Zifa offices as we have done. We need this culture change right across clubs and members and this is part and parcel of this engagement. 

“We are hearing their views from them and also sharing the type of rights they enjoy. But with every right there are obligations and we are sharing what those obligations are. 

“The way we operated in the past could have been a one-man band, but we are saying let us professionalise our football and have a proper constitution and proper policies and be able to open proper accounts and report on things professionally rather than just from our own pockets. 

“Not only that, our relationship with Fifa is encouraging. For us to get any benefit from Fifa, they want that accountability from us right through the value chain,” said Mutasa 

Mutasa and his committee, which includes his deputy Cynthia Malaba, lawyer Nyasha Sanyamandwe, ex-Mighty Warriors coach Rosemary Mugadza and former Highlanders player Sikhumbuzo Ndebele, had initially been handed a 12-month term when they were appointed on July 11 last year.

But with elections seemingly not anytime soon, an extension looks on the horizon.-@innocentskizoe