Kamambo pleads for FIFA ban
SUSPENDED ZIFA president Felton Kamambo took his desperate bid to cling to power to a different level on Friday when he once again invited FIFA to sanction Zimbabwe ostensibly because he had been barred from travelling to Cameroon to watch tonight’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final.
In a bid to woo FIFA support, he claimed the domestic game was now in a quandary as Government had taken over football administration.
The Sunday Mail Sport has established that the beleaguered ZIFA boss had intended to travel to Cameroon and join other football association presidents who are in the West African country, courtesy of the Confederation of African Football.
Senegal will face record AFCON winners Egypt in the final, which kicks off at 9pm.
Kamambo, together with members of his board — Philemon Machana, Bryton Malandule, Barbra Chikosi, Sugar Chagonda and Farai Jere — were suspended by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) on November 16 last year .
The pair of Chikosi and Jere later had their suspensions lifted to allow them to execute their mandate as Women’s Soccer League and Premier Soccer League chairpersons, respectively.
While Chagonda insisted he would respect and abide by the SRC decision, the trio of Kamambo, Malandule and Machana have been pulling all the stops to resist the suspension.
In the latest episode to the ZIFA drama, Kamambo had wanted to fly to Cameroon as a show of defiance to the suspension handed on him, but his bid hit a snag at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, where he was barred from travelling.
After failing to travel earlier that afternoon, Kamambo, through suspended ZIFA chief executive officer Joseph Mamutse, on Friday night wrote to FIFA pleading with the world soccer governing body to ban Zimbabwe over challenges his board has been facing.
FIFA last year threatened to suspend Zimbabwe from international football, including expulsion from the AFCON tournament, if the SRC did not reinstate the ZIFA board by January 3. The Friday letter was addressed to FIFA secretary-general Fatma Samoura and was copied to CAF and members of the ZIFA executive committee, which is commonly known as the board.
“We wish to inform you that our FA president Mr Felton Kamambo was today barred from travelling to Cameroon for a football event he had been officially invited to attend,” wrote Mamutse.
“We are informed this was at the insistence of the SRC and a continuation of their interference on our football (sic). While the FIFA letter (banning Zimbabwe) has yet not come, our football continues to suffer at the hands of the SRC and we again continue to ask for FIFA’s intervention.”
The ZIFA leaders then painted a grim picture of the situation obtaining in the country.
“The situation in Zimbabwe is such that football is now being run by Government and this latest act is again proof that the interference continues even long after the expiry of the deadline given by FIFA to the SRC. We wait for your guidance,’’ read the letter.
The latest communication between Kamambo’s leadership and FIFA comes just eight days after they had also written to Samoura seeking “enhanced FIFA support’’ in their bid to stay in power.
This was despite the fact that on January 26, FIFA had written advising councillors to move the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) they had intended to hold on January 29 to April 3.
In postponing the EGM, FIFA urged ZIFA councillors to follow their constitution and give 90 days’ due notice for the board to convene the meeting.
Although the FIFA letter gave him reprieve, Kamambo felt it somehow did not have the kind of sanctions he wanted the world body to impose on Zimbabwe.
“We hereby acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 26 January 2022 of which contents were duly noted. This will put to rest misinterpretation of the statutes by our members.
“We will advise the congress accordingly regarding FIFA position on the EGM set for January 29, 2022.
“Lastly, we sincerely hope that the response on the SRC’s ultimatum given by FIFA on 3rd January 2022 will be addressed soon as negative speculation continues daily from football stakeholders. The recent action by councillors to call for an EGM is a manifestation of threats, intimidation and interference by SRC to the extent that any further delay by FIFA will see the SRC taking entire football space in Zimbabwe. We are under siege and in need of FIFA support without any further delay,” Mamutse said.
The SRC, however, denied accusations they were behind Kamambo’s failure to travel to Yaoundé. Acting SRC director-general Sebastian Garikai yesterday said the commission were not keen to drawn into the ZIFA drama.
“We are not aware of Mr Kamambo’s intention to travel or failure thereof. We regulate sport in the country and not immigration matters and as such we cannot comment,” he said.
“It is unfortunate though that the suspended ZIFA leaders are trying to drag the SRC in each and every episode of their drama.”
Although the beleaguered ZIFA boss has been quick to blame Government for his woes, he has been silent on Government’s support to the sport. More than US$1 million was extended to the Warriors for their recent campaign in Cameroon.
Authorities have also ensured the Mighty Warriors are catered for ahead of their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final qualifier against Botswana later this month.
Acting ZIFA chief executive officer Xolisani Gwesela and national teams’ general manager Wellington Mpandare are working to ensure the Mighty Warriors adequately prepare for the encounter.
Unlike in the past when they would be housed at the substandard ZIFA Village, Government has booked them at one of Harare’s top hotels. The Mighty Warriors stand on the brink of qualifying for the AFCON in Morocco.
They would have to overcome Botswana in back-to-back encounters in Harare and Francistown.