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spreads like a cancer. ZIFA vice-president Ndumiso Gumede concisely summed up this critical aspect following a FIFA/Cosafa and Interpol workshop in South Africa last August: “Our (Zimbabwe’s) experience has virtually opened the eyes of other associations who think that they could sooner or later be targeted by match fixers.” Thomas Sweswe. Their cases will be heard by the Special Appeals Committee (SPC) that is headed by seasoned administrator Chris Mbanga. Prominent barristers, advocates Thabani Mpofu and Silas Chekera are the other members of the SPC. In a media statement on 15 January 2013, ZIFA CEO Jonathan Mashingaidze noted: “We have received appeal fees from the seven people and now it will be up to the committee to set the date for cases to be held. What they are supposed to do now is get the documents they need to study them before they can present their case to the Special Appeals Committee but soon it will start.” a state after they recently tumbled out of the continental events having been beaten at home by Congo – hardly a powerhouse in continental football, and subsequently failed to travel to Congo for the return leg. All this coming after Zifa had announced they were disbanding the senior national team. Now, how do you build a new, stronger senior national team – the Warriors or otherwise – from a pool of players that purportedly play for an inactive under-23 side, an under-20 side that won’t be featuring in any competitive Caf matches for the next three years with the continent’s football mother body set to impose the ban as punishment for failing to fulfil a fixture in August 2012, and an under-17 team that is likely to meet the same fate? It’s baffling. But then, nothing really makes sense when it comes to Zimbabwean football and ZIFA in particular. TP
The Final Analysis
After a drawn out process and a seemingly endless wait, the Justice Ebrahim Committee finally delivered its report on the Asiagate match fixing scandal in October 2012. But then, just as everyone thought the issue was nearing finality, the ongoing court case involving Henrietta Rushwaya has brought a new dimension to the Asiagate issue. Witnesses have conferred what appear to be contradictory testimonies, with some actually implicating other individuals who had not been treated as suspects in the earlier Asiagate investigations. Some officials, including a former ZIFA president and an ex-ZIFA vice-president have been accused of having been “in the know” when the trips to Asia were taking place. The world football governing body FIFA, too, has not been too keen to okay the bans and suspensions handed out by ZIFA, insisting, instead, that the accused individuals first be given a chance to defend themselves, while, at the same time, evidence against the accused parties, has to be irrefutable. Given that, at the moment, most of the investigations have hinged on one man’s word against another’s with little “irrefutable” hard evidence, and the ongoing appeals by individuals who have been banned, a long and dreary end-game is in the offing. All we can do as a nation is wait. Even the national football association, ZIFA, has called for patience, with the association’s CEO revealing that at least seven of the 15 individuals who were given life bans had each paid the requisite US$6 000 to launch their respective appeals. The seven individuals are Guthrie Zhokinyi, Luke Masomore, Method Mwanjali, Robson Sharuko, Sunday Chidzambwa, Taurayi Mangwiro and
A Sidenote... Warriors no more:
With the nation still gripped with the unfolding Asiagate inquest, convictions and court battles, the nation’s most topical national team, the Warriors were plunged further into obscurity after a unilateral decision from the ZIFA Board that appears, at best, kneejerk. Doomsday f?"F?Rv'&??'2v2???FVB??v?V?F?RFV??v???7B?7F?&W"?VV??7W'&V?FW&VBGv??v???VB??F?R#2g&?67W?b?F???2V?f?W"???v??F???6R"??Bv?F??B?v??FV???'GV??G??v2FW67&?&VB'???d&W6?FV?B7WF?&W'BGV&R2F?6???F??r?( ?bB??F?W?vW&Rv'&??'2?( ?vVV?2?FW"?F?BFV?v2F?6&?FVB( 2?V?&V6VFV?FVB??fR?F?R?FVv???rf?'v&B??2F?B??dv?????rF?R??&RFWfV???V?F?&?6???????rF?F?RV?FW"?#2?BV?FW"?#&??2F?'V??B?Wr????FV??F?R7W&??W26?GVF????2F?B?V?F?W"F?RV?FW##72??"F?RV?FW##2?fR??VB???V???vgV??F6?W2v??7B?V???vgV???6?F?????&V6V?BF???27rW7vR?fR&??V'2?WfV?F?R2vV??V?FW"?w2&R??F?R&FR????&'v^( ?2??7B&VB?fW7G??R?v???P??fV''V'?#0??vR?P???