Sports and Recreation Commission acting director general Joseph Muchechetere
Sports Reporter
THE joint Sports Commission, Zifa and Women Football national stakeholders meeting to address various issues affecting women football that had been pencilled in for the National Sports Stadium yesterday has been moved to September 29.
In a statement released by Sports Commission’s acting director-general, Joseph Muchechetere late yesterday, the indaba had been shelved to allow stakeholders from outside Harare to attend.
“It was the stakeholders who felt that there was need to postpone the meeting in order to allow the other stakeholders from outside of Harare to also attend the meeting and even those from NAPH, NASH, Tertiary institutions and other institutions.
“The purpose of the meeting was for the SRC and Zifa to gain an appreciation of the challenges that are currently bedeviling women’s football with a view to resolving them in an amicable manner.
“The challenges that are currently affecting women’s football cannot be left unattended to, and as the SRC we had decided to meet with all the stakeholders involved with women’s football so that together we may come up with a lasting solution,” said Muchechetere.
In September last year, the SRC Board commissioned a Committee of Inquiry into the state and administration of football that was chaired by Commissioner Obadiah Moyo and some of the observations made concerning Women football include:
-That women’s football operated without a constitution.
-It was observed that there was no proper league structure to run women’s football.
-There was no proper support system from Zifa to the women football structure.
-That there was too much inter and intra fighting among the women football stakeholders which stifled the growth and development of the game.
Muchechetere said it is against those observations that the Sports Commission and Zifa decided to convene the meeting to map the way forward.
“The SRC also needs to confirm that the current Zifa board led by Phillip Chiyangwa inherited the situation which is currently obtaining in women football hence our efforts to work together in order to resolve it.
“The stakeholders should be bear in mind that this meeting is not meant to fault find, accuse each other or to denigrate one another, rather it is meant to build the future of women’s football hence the need for positive and constructive engagement,” said Muchechetere.
Currently women football is being run by an interim committee chaired by Elizabeth Langa.