The Zimbabwe Football Association {ZIFA} has forged ahead with its plans to approach the Administrative Court for justification of their ban by Sports Recreation Council.
Up to now the suspended Zifa board has come out in full support of the ongoing dialogue between the SRC and Fifa to resolve their grievances.
The SRC suspended the Zifa board two weeks ago citing irregularities in the handling of finances as well as breaching COVID-19 protocols, among other transgressions.
Zifa has since escalated the case to Caf and Fifa.
On Monday, the SRC announced that it had reached an “agreement” with Fifa on how the Zifa issue would be addressed following a meeting on Saturday.
According to SRC, dialogue with Fifa is an ongoing process, but the Zifa board led by Felton Kamambo remains suspended.
Yesterday, Zifa legal advisor Chenaimoyo Gumiro responded to the charges that led to the board members’ suspension, saying SRC took a wrong approach and should have engaged the football mother body the same way it had engaged Fifa.
“We are aware of the engagements of SRC and Fifa and we believe that is the way to go about it. Fifa promotes fair governance and it does not rush to make decisions before engaging all parties involved. This is what the SRC should have done and if that engagement with Zifa had been done, surely we would not have come to where we are. While the engagements between SRC and Fifa take place, we will seek to get the suspension lifted locally by approaching the Administrative Court,” Gumiro said.
Meanwhile, other suspended board members, who include Philemon Machana, Farai Jere, Barbra Chikosi and Bryton Malandule, want their suspension to be set aside.
One of the controversial issues between SRC and Zifa is how the football body managed public funds at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.
