Zifa to have Dube arrested

ZIFA is this week expected to formally report former association president Cuthbert Dube and his executive committee to the police for criminal abuse of office after they failed to account for the football mother-body’s huge debt.

The move to report Dube and his executive to the police follows what has mainly been seen as arrogance on the part of the previous executive after they failed to respond to a Zifa request that they account for the nearly $7 million debt that the association is faced with.

“Former Zifa executive members led by Cuthbert Dube who ran down the association’s finances during their reign will be reported to the police for criminal abuse of office,” said Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa in a communiqué released on Sunday.

The demand by Zifa was as a result of a government sanctioned and Sports and Recreation Commission led inquiry into the state of football in the country in 2015.

Recommendations were then made by the SRC, among them the issue of the shocking debt that has seen the association losing a number of its properties to creditors who would have taken it to court for recourse.

However, questions have been asked about the authenticity of some of the claims by Zifa creditors, with the Zimbabwe Tourisim Authority chief executive officer Karikoga Kaseke publicly declaring that there were “thieves” at Zifa while referring to the Rainbow debt which he said the government fully paid as it was part of the arrangement when Zimbabwe played host to the Cosafa Senior men Challenge in 2009.

According to the Zifa books, the bill is still outstanding, seven years later.

The accommodation bill at the Rainbow Towers stands at $52 069,30.

It has also emerged that accommodation charges in one of the lodges that the national team used to set up base in Harare, could have been inflated. Zifa claims that they were being charged about $125 per night per person but a visit to the lodge revealed that the most expensive room costs $70 while the cheapest goes for $30.