The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) Board has noted with great concern recent events at the Zimbabwe Cricket and Zimbabwe Football Association which have caught the attention of the sport-loving members of the public. The SRC Board (hereinafter referred as the Board) is keenly aware that sport is a public good to which the Zimbabwean public are major stakeholders. Members of the public have a legitimate right to expect proper administration of National Sports Associations. After the gathering of preliminary information, the Board has resolved as follows:
ZIMBABWE CRICKET (ZC)
The Board reviewed events at the Zimbabwe Cricket and
made the following observations:
- That following the defeat of the Zimbabwe cricket senior men’s team by UAE, the ZC Board summarily dismissed the Technical Team that was led by the national team coach, Heath Streak.
- That further, the ZC Board dismissed the Zimbabwe cricket under 19 Technical Team that was led by coach, Stephen Mangongo purportedly on account of the poor performance of the team.
- That allegations of racism and match – fixing were raised as among possible reasons for the failure by the national team (the Chevrons) to qualify for the cricket World Cup to be hosted in England next year.
- That the ZC General Manager had left the country under unclear circumstances and was now running ZC from Dubai.
- That the dismissed members were challenging their dismissal in the courts.
- That a number of ZC stakeholders had raised serious concerns on these developments.
As result of the above observations, the Board set up an SRC Investigation Committee to conduct an inquiry into these matters. The Committee comprises the following:
- Commissioner Joseph Mungwari- as Chairman
- Commissioner Titus I Zvomuya – as a Member, and
- SRC Board Committee Member and Lawyer, Benjamin Magogo- as a Member.
ZIMBABWE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
After noting the considerable interest generated by the tenure of office of the current ZIFA Executive Committee and other related corporate governance issues, the Board resolved to invoke Section 30 of the Sports and Recreation Commission Act [Chapter 25:15]. In terms of this section, in a process will be rolled out, in the next couple of days to afford the ZIFA Executive Committee the opportunity to make representations on these matters. Once the process has been concluded, the results will be made public.
