The Zimbabwe Football Association Normalisation Committee (ZIFA NC) said it has made significant progress in implementing the FIFA-prescribed reforms before its mandate expires on 30 June 2024.
The Lincoln Mutasa-led ZIFA NC was appointed in 2022 by FIFA after the latter lifted Zimbabwe’s suspension from international football.
The ZIFA NC was mandated to restructure the ZIFA administration and review the association’s Statutes and Electoral Code to ensure compliance with FIFA Statutes and requirements.
It is also expected to act as an electoral committee to organise and conduct elections to establish a new ZIFA board.
Addressing the media in Harare on Friday, 12 January, Mutasa, who was flanked by deputy chairperson Cynthia Malaba and the association secretary general Yvonne Mapika Manwa, said (via ZBC News):
From the time we entered into office, we have been seized with making sure that the internal organisation is running smoothly filling the gaps that needed to be filled and also getting a proper structure in place.
I am happy to say that we have made significant progress on that end and we can now touch on other issues that we are mandated to do.
The review process we are now getting onto will take a bit of time because of the nature of the process, it will require wide consultations among other things.
Once the constitutional process is satisfied then we are going to engage FIFA to work out a road map for elections.
So in terms of time frames I cannot give you that because that will be decided by the engagement we will have with FIFA.
After the constitutional process, the NC will then engage FIFA for approval. Once approved, the electoral process will then start with elections starting from the Area Zone up to the ZIFA Board.
However, these processes are likely to go beyond 30 June when the Normalisation Committee’s mandate is supposed to end and FIFA will most likely extend the NC’s tenure.
This won’t be an unprecedented development as FIFA has previously extended the tenures of Normalisation Committees in Ghana, Namibia, Pakistan, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago after they all failed to conclude their mandate within the stipulated timeframes.
More: Pindula News