APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe has bounced back into the global football family following Monday’s decision by FIFA to lift a 17-month-long suspension of the southern African country over government interference in the running of the sport.
In a letter to the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) on Monday night, FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura said the decision to lift the suspension was taken following confirmation that most of the issues that led to the ban had been addressed.
These included the lifting of the suspension of ZIFA general secretary by Zimbabwe’s Sport and Recreation Commission (SRC) in May 2022; the rescinding of the suspension of the ZIFA Board by the SRC; and the dissolution in December 2022 of a ZIFA restructuring committee that had been appointed by the SRC.
” Under these circumstances, the Bureau of the FIFA Council decided to lift the suspension that was imposed on the Zimbabwe Football Association in February 2022 and appoint a normalisation committee with immediate effect,” Samoura said.
The normalisation committee, to be appointed by FIFA in consultation with the Confederation of African Football, would be responsible for running the daily affairs of ZIFA until June 2024; restructuring the ZIFA administration; establishing, with the help of FIFA, a collaboration agreement between the SRC and ZIFA, which will define the responsibilities and objectives of each party; and reviewing the ZIFA Statutes and Electoral Code to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements.
The committee would also act as an electoral committee in order to organise and conduct elections of a new ZIFA Board based on the newly aligned ZIFA Statutes and Electoral Code; and ensure a proper financial handover to the new ZIFA Board.
The lifting of the suspension comes days before the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for Africa scheduled for Wednesday in Benin.
JN/APA