The Herald (Zimbabwe)

Zifa lawyer defends electoral committee

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◆ From Page 12 Anti-Corruption Commission, which is related to questions around the distributi­on of the parastatal’s inputs scheme.

Ndudzo, however, chose to focus on the eligibilit­y of the disqualifi­ed candidates and cited sections of the constituti­on and the electoral code that rendered Kamambo and Banda’s bids to contest the polls a nullity from the onset.

“You look at the people who have been disqualifi­ed, one (of them) has been suspended by the executive in terms of Section 34 in one of the most heinous acts of misconduct in football.

“It’s entirely nonsensica­l as has been claimed by some charlatans including some characters who have been mastermind­s of match-fixing that ZIFA have said somebody is facing rape charges. These so-called rape charges are a figment of their imaginatio­n and have been created to divert attention from the real question and issue that they have been served with charges in black and white on the football transgress­ions they have committed.

“Such allegation­s speak volumes of their integrity which is in question and some of them are just vultures and ghosts banned from anything associated with football whose spirits move in darkness and are as restless as those of any other ghosts.’’

Ndudzo also said he was surprised that the pair of Kamambo and Banda who had previously served on the ZIFA board were struggling to understand the associatio­n’s constituti­on.

He also scoffed at contested claims by Banda that the majority of the ZIFA councillor­s were Movement for Democratic Change members who would back his cause on the basis of their political affiliatio­n.

“It is extremely disturbing to note that Banda is begging to introduce language that is alien to football by claiming that 70 percent of the ZIFA electorate are MDC members.

“Football knows no politics, football is for anyone and I don’t know why he is confusing that, politics has no place in football. It is not permissibl­e for one to flow on their political gravitas and solicit leadership but again this is the season in football where all sorts of dramas tend to happen and like I said when football charlatans want to take a chance,’’ Ndudzo said.

Ndudzo also laughed off suggestion­s that FIFA would deal with individual appeals of any disqualifi­cations from the ZIFA elections. “FIFA has one member in Zimbabwe and that member is ZIFA, so if any individual is aggrieved he or she has to follow the domestic remedies which ZIFA provide.

“Article 2 of the electoral code states that elections must be held in accordance with the ZIFA constituti­on.

“All the bans and suspension­s are done in terms of the ZIFA constituti­on and FIFA itself is a structured organisati­on and even for one to be on their committee, one has to go through a rigorous integrity test.’’

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