ZIFA’s relationship with the Council of Southern Africa
Football Associations (Cosafa) appears to have irretrievably broken down, with
the association now considering pulling out of the 16-member regional
organisation and join the Council for East and Central Africa Football
Associations (Cecafa).
This is in response to Cosafa’s last week decision to
suspend the national senior men’s team, the Warriors, from competing at next
year’s Cosafa tournament after Zifa failed to comply with a deadline to commit
to hosting the 2021 edition of the competition.
Cosafa has also fined Zimbabwe US$200 000, which should be
paid by August 15 or risk a permanent ban from participating in all the
regional body’s competitions.
The impasse came after Cosafa accused Zifa of reneging on
its commitment to host this year’s edition of the annual regional event, which
was eventually hosted by South Africa.
Chiyangwa allegedly misrepresented to Cosafa that they
already had a government backing to host the tournament, which later turned out
not to be correct.
Following Cosafa’s tough sanctions against Zimbabwe early
this week, a Zifa executive member yesterday told NewsDay Sport that the
association had decided to pull out of Cosafa and were considering joining
Cecafa.
The Zifa board was set to meet yesterday, where a decision
was expected to be made.
“There is a lot of politics at play in this whole saga, and
to be honest, we are fed up. We have to put an end to all this drama,” a board
member said.
“And people should know that Zifa never made a bid to host
the tournament, but only showed interest. Bidding for the tournament entails an
association to submit a government guarantee, which was never submitted. What
Zifa did was just a show of interest and for Cosafa to consider it as a proper
bid is an act of mischief on their part. We know there is a third force behind
this, including some top Cosafa bosses who are trying to destabilise the
current Zifa leadership.
We think the best way is to pull out of Cosafa and join other
associations where we are appreciated better. This is one of the issues that
will be discussed in the board meeting,” the board member said.
Since the ban only applies to the Warriors, Zifa are
considering pulling the Mighty Warriors and Young Mighty Warriors from this
year’s Cosafa Women Championships which starts in Port Elizabeth, South Africa,
next week in a move that would certainly throw the whole tournament into
disarray.
“Why should we send the women teams when they have banned
us? They know Zimbabwe is a crowd puller and a big brand in the region. We are
seriously considering pulling out,” the board member added.
The meeting was still in session by the time of going to
print yesterday. Meanwhile, the Warriors’ home-based squad would be looking
to put one foot into the next round of the African Nations Championships when
they play Mauritius in the preliminary first round, first leg, in Port Louis
tomorrow.
The reverse fixture is set for next week at Barbourfields
in Bulawayo, with the winner of this two legged affair then proceeding to the
final qualifier to meet either South Africa or Lesotho for a ticket to the finals
to be staged in Cameroon next year.
Chan is a tournament exclusively for domestic-based
players. Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the last edition after they
were knocked out by Namibia. Newsday
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