FIFA has finally lifted its suspension worth 18 months of the ZIFA or the Zimbabwe Football Association, just in time for the much-awaited African qualification competition – obviously for World Cup 2026 – according to the officials.
Until the elections for forming a new ZIFA management team are over, a recently appointed interim normalization committee will manage ZIFA’s affairs.
In February 2022, the global football governing body suspended Zimbabwe. This happened once the government interfered with the functioning of the troubled football association.
The Sports and Recreation Commission (a government body) of the country dissolved ZIFA’s executive committee in November 2021.
The commission dissolved ZIFA due to allegations that the money given by the state to the association for Zimbabwe’s participation at the 2019 finals of the Africa Cup of Nations was actually misappropriated.
FIFA Lifts Zimbabwe Suspension: Just In Time For World Cup Qualifiers
The 2022 Qualifiers for the World Cup allowed Zimbabwe to play. However, the event banned the team from participating in the qualifiers. Also, the preliminaries of the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 in Ivory Coast.
On Monday, in a statement, FIFA confirmed,
“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.”
Apart from their daily news, the newly appointed interim normalization committee is also all set to “review the ZIFA Statutes and Electoral Code to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements and to ensure their adoption by the ZIFA Congress.”
Lincoln Mutasa, a local administrator, will chair this normalization committee. Moreover, the committee will finish its whole mandate by June 2024.
The CAF Congress will host the first draw for the African World Cup qualifiers. So, the qualifiers for the 2023 African World Cup will officially begin on Thursday in Abidjan.
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