The Sunday Mail
HOPE CHIZUZU does not speak for Harare City and his tiff with Zifa is personal, the Sunshine Boys said yesterday.
In a letter to Zifa, the Premiership side’s chief executive Tafadzwa Bhasera distanced the club from Chizuzu’s sustained attacks on the local soccer governing body.
There is no love lost between the social media blogger and the Phillip Chiyangwa led executive.
Chizuzu has consistently attacked Zifa for what he alleges to be a lack of good corporate governance.
On the other hand, Chiyangwa accuses Chizuzu of being a fraudster who once posed as a Fifa security official and a pseudo journalist who is working with the Sports and Recreation Commission to destabilise the operations of Zifa.
With the public spate seemingly getting nastier by the day, Harare City have moved to protect the club’s image.
“The impression is created that Hope Chizuzu is a spokesman of HCF and that his actions, comments or pronouncements reflect the views or position of the club vis-à-vis the Zifa administration,” wrote Bhasera.
“The facts are that Hope Chizuzu is not a spokesperson of HCFC, neither is he the club’s communications officer. Hope Chizuzu is attached to the development structures of the club where he assists the development coach with liaison, dissemination of information and coordination of junior soccer structures.
“Hope Chizuzu’s utterances and views on the Zifa administration are his personal views and position and do not in any way reflect HCFC position.”
Zifa vice president Omega Sibanda confirmed receipt of the letter and said City needs to go a step further and ensure that Chizuzu is “nowhere near football business.”
“The letter exposes Harare City in a way because the person they are talking about here is banned from association football and junior football is association football.
“We were not going to have problems with Chizuzu if he was attached to the department of housing or the sewer department.
“But because by Harare City’s own admission he is in the football structures, we find it necessary to remind the club of a letter we wrote to them in February this year,” he said.
The letter Sibanda alludes to was written by Zifa general secretary Joseph Mamutse.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association has imposed a life ban on Harare City football official Hope Chizuzu from all football related activities with immediate effect.
“The expulsion automatically obliges Chizuzu to relinquish all roles, rights and functions as a football official with immediate effect and his employer Harare City Football Club is advised to take note of this action by the Zifa Executive Committee,” reads part of the letter.
