THE Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) recently received overwhelming plaudits for dissolving the ever-bungling Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) board.
The decision by SRC to crack the whip sent a powerful message that the kind of chaos, which has characterised the local game for decades should not continue and must never ever be tolerated.
Zifa president Felton Kamambo and his cronies had turned the football association into private property not accountable to anyone except their company.
In fact, Kamambo’s ascendency to power was shrouded in controversy, with the custodians of Zifa, the councillors, proving dysfunctional and complicit to problems bedevilling the local game.
The suspension of the Zifa board was preceded by the cancellation of the association’s overdue annual general meeting (AGM).
And in a true sign of people who do not care about the local game, the Zifa councillors professed ignorance about the AGM, at a time several allegations, including the abuse of Fifa/Caf Covid-19 funds were being made against the Zifa board.
And while the SRC swiftly moved in to try and restore order, somehow it created a vacuum and left everything to speculation.
The SRC’s last communication on the development was that they have engaged Fifa and Caf, as they seek to appoint a normalisation committee.
“The process of appointing an interim committee is a consultative and procedural one; involving various stakeholders, not least sponsors, Caf and Fifa itself.
“There must be integrity in the process. These discussions are ongoing and are encouraging and positive,” SRC chairperson Gerald Mlothswa said last week.
And while SRC revealed that there were some positives to their engagement with Fifa, the problem is that they have gone on mute and are not informing the public on the progress.
As things stand, the association’s operations have been paralysed. The association was this week forced to cancel the Level One and Two coaching courses just seven days after cancelling the elite referees’ course.
These developments affected several coaches and referees who could not participate, as the signatories to the association’s funds are all suspended.
This with no doubt has a negative impact on the game and needs to be addressed quickly.
This is the reason why SRC needs to expedite its process and be decisive, so as to save the national game from further turmoil.