A NEW era began for Zimbabwean football yesterday after businessman Phillip Chiyangwa won the race for the Zimbabwe Football Association presidency.
By Brian Nkiwane
After weeks of rigorous campaigning and speculation on who was the right man to lead local football and extricate it from the dark pit where it squats, Zifa councillors finally made the decision.
Speaking after his election, Chiyangwa, who was over the moon had this to say: “I am in. What I want now is to show people what I have been saying all along. What I am asking for is for all those candidates that have lost to come in so that we can work together for the good of the game.
“They lost the election, but not the chance to give us their ideas to move forward as a unit. We have a tough task ahead of us. We need to take football back to where it belongs. First things first, looking at Zifa accounts and the debts which might haunt us in the near future,” Chiyangwa added.
Chiyangwa beat other presidential candidates – Trevor Caresle-Juul, Leslie Gwindi and former national team player James Takavada – at an extraordinary general meeting held at the Zifa Village in Mount Hampden near Harare yesterday.
Chiyangwa, who was supposed to poll at least 37 votes to win the election on the first goal, surpassed the mark, bagging 40 votes, while Juul came second with 13 votes, one less than the votes he got the last time when he forced a rerun against former Zifa boss Cuthbert Dube, who went on to win.
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Gwindi polled two votes, while little-known Takavada had one.
Chiyangwa’s trusted lieutenant Omega Sibanda made a comeback to the Zifa fold after brushing aside a challenge from Lincoln Mutasa.
Sibanda bounced back as vice-president – the position he held before being suspended during the Dube era – after polling 34 votes, while his opponent polled 23 votes. Four youthful board members: former Warriors player Edzai Kasinauyo, Eastern Region chairman Piraishe Mabhena, Central Region chairman Felton Kamambo and Philemon Machana join Chiyangwa and Sibanda in the Zifa board.
Mabhena polled the most votes bagging 36, with Kamambo coming second with 34. Machana polled 32, while Kasinauyo got 29 votes.
Veteran administrator Musa Mandaza, Joseph Musariri, Wilfred Mukuna, Charles Uriri, Musa Gwasira, and Jackson Munyaka all fell by the wayside, polling 28, 23, 16, 13, 12 and one vote, in that order. Of the 58 councillors eligible to vote, 57 took part. For the board member posts, there was only one spoilt ballot, as well as for the presidential election.
Juul said the electorate had spoken loud and clear.
“They have spoken. This is what they want, but I hope it’s for the good of Zimbabwean football,”he said.
“I will not have problems in working with anyone, but from my votes, you can tell that there are a few loyal people that will always vote for me.”
A dejected Gwindi also said he had to respect the will of the councillors.
“This is what they want, but I hope it is for the good of the game. What can I say? The councillors have spoken,” he said.
The other losing candidate, Takavada said there was always tomorrow.
“It’s good that the councillors have chosen whom they want. I also believe what they have done is good for football. I have made myself known, so next time I will be a big gun as well.”
Meanwhile, Fifa member associations manager Luca Nicola revealed that Zifa’s audited accounts had been adopted earlier on in the day by the congress, meaning the association will be back in the fold to get grants from the world football mother body. This opens a new chapter to the Chiyangwa-led board.
Nicola, however, said the outstanding debt to coach Tom Sainfiet was still to be paid and that would be looked into as soon as the new board got into office.
“The new board has big challenges ahead of it. If they don’t deal with this issue [Sainfiet debt] until January 4 2016, then what it means is we will have a repeat of what happened recently, Zimbabwe missing the 2022 World Cup, which will not be good for the country,” Nicola said.
The Sports and Recreation Commission, represented by Joseph Muchechetere, also promised to be on the look-out for events at Zifa.
“We had created a big distance from Zifa, but with what has been happening, we had to come back and try to monitor from time to time. We will do this going forward,” Muchechetere said.
