The Sunday Mail
Makomborero Mutimukulu
Sports Editor
Election time is silly season. This goes for sport as much as it does for politics. Perhaps more so when it comes to the politics of sport.Chancers try their luck, heavyweights press their cases, and dark horses wait in the wings.
Is Phillip Chiyangwa a chancer, heavyweight or dark horse in the race for the Zifa presidency?
Probably the first, which is why his audacious bid for the post looks doomed before it really takes off.
The maverick businessman and politician could fall foul of a clause that requires aspiring candidates to have been involved in football administration for at least five years.
Dr Phillip Chiyangwa
Section 32(4) of the Zifa constitution reads:
“The members of the executive committee shall have already been active in football administration for at least 5 years, must not have been previously found guilty of a criminal offence as defined under national criminal law and have residency within the territory of Zifa.”
Chiyangwa, who confirmed his intention to run for the Zifa presidency in a video posted on social media on Friday, seems to have no traceable record in football administration with his footprints visible in business, politics, boxing and music promotion.
His backers – who include Caps United president Farai Jere – have to consider how they will go ahead with the Zifa presidency push without addressing Section 32(4) of the soccer governing body’s constitution.
Jere on Friday sensationally announced he would be Chiyangwa’s campaign manager much to the bewilderment of a strong constituency that was nudging him to throw his won hat into the ring.
But backing Chiyangwa might have given Jere an escape valve he badly needed.
“Look I have a lot of things to do already but some of the guys who are asking me to run are too senior and I cannot afford to say no to them,” he told this publication 24 hours before the meeting with Chiyangwa.
The Caps United owner has hinted at running for the Zifa presidency in 2018, a time he expects to have completed his degree programme at the University of Zimbabwe.
Backing Chiyangwa allows him to be close to the politics of the race without having to participate this time around.
As for Big Phill, the Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association chairman Bekhi Nyoni describes Chiyangwa’s bid as a sick joke.
“Where the hell is he coming from? Has he read the constitution? Does he meet the requirements to compete for the Zifa presidency? This is a sick joke and the councillors who are misleading him must be ashamed.
“He has failed in politics and now wants to bring the circus to football when we are looking for men and women who are ready to work for our game.
This is not about money; it’s about willing to work for the nation.
“Some of us have been in the football trenches for years and cannot sit and watch when such sick jokes are playing our right in front of our very eyes,” he charged.
As the silly season unfolds, Zimbabwe Lifelong Football Trust chairman Francis Zimunya and former Premier Soccer League chief executive Chris Sambo appear to be laying the ground work for Trevor Carelse-Juul’s bid.
Zimunya claims to have approached businesspeople such as former top-flight referee Anthony Mandiwanza, former Dynamos chairman Lincoln Mutasa, and ex Black Aces player Tony Machado.
“We have engaged some powerful business leaders who also have a rich history in football administration.
If you look at a person like Mandiwanza, he commands a lot of respect in the local corporate world while the likes of Juul and Machado are international businessmen capable of luring international sponsors.
“We have been in touch with Mutasa from Botswana and Machado who has influence in Europe. We do not want their money, what we want is their expertise and connections,” he said.
Mandiwanza dismissed the claims.
“That is absolute nonsense,” he said. “I cannot drag myself into that.
Yes, I do sympathise with the current football situation in the country but I personally do not feel I can add any value to Zifa. That is totally out, nobody has approached me and if they do I will politely turn them down.”
Nominations for the Zifa elections opened two weeks ago and close on November 5.
