Zimbabwe’s Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) chairperson Gerald Mlotshwa has insisted that football activities will continue in the country despite FIFA’s ban.
He said this in a statement he released Thursday in reaction to FIFA’s ban of Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) over the government’s interference in the association’s affairs.
“Domestic football will continue in Zimbabwe,” Mlotshwa said in a statement dated February 24 2022. “It will be supported fully by the SRC, as has been the demonstrable case thus far. ZIFA will return to the “FIFA Family” when it is in a condition fit to do so.”
FIFA suspended Zimbabwe from all football activities on Thursday following SRC’s refusal to lift the suspension of ZIFA boss Felton Kamambo, his board members and chief executive officer Joseph Mamutse.
The SRC board suspended the ZIFA officials in 2020 and filed court cases against them at the Magistrate Court over alleged administrative irregularities.
However, Mlotshwa has challenged FIFA that the reasons behind the suspension of the ZIFA officials were outside football jurisdiction.
“We, at the SRC, act decisively within the confines of the laws of Zimbabwe, in particular the Sports & Recreation Commission Act as well as the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act,” he added.
“FIFA statutes are not a part of the laws of Zimbabwe. Conversely, ZIFA, and indeed all other national sports associations in the country, are subject to the laws of Zimbabwe. It is for this reason that they, and their respective constitutions, are registered with the SRC.”
FIFA Council arrived at the decision after its meeting, the world football governing body’s president Gianni Infantino told the press on Thursday.
“We had to suspend two of our member associations, Kenya and Zimbabwe, both for government interference in the activities of the football associations. The associations are suspended with immediate effect and they know what needs to be done in order for them to be re-admitted or for the suspensions to be lifted,” Infantino said.
He made the announcement hours after FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura had written ZIFA and Kenya Football Federation notifying them of the suspensions.
FIFA has since warned the rest of its member affiliates from dealing with the suspended FAs in any football business.
