Munyati blames Fifa on Asiagate

Sport
ZIFA presidential candidate Nigel Munyati has cast the blame on world footballing body Fifa for failing to render financial aid in their bid to solve the Asiagate match-fixing scandal.

ZIFA presidential candidate Nigel Munyati has cast the blame on world footballing body Fifa for failing to render financial aid in their bid to solve the Asiagate match-fixing scandal.

SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA SPORTS REPORTER

Addressing journalists over the weekend, Munyati said Fifa have let Zifa down in their bid to solve the scandal as they did not have the financial capacity to execute the programme.

“Fifa have failed to support us. I am going to say that Fifa pays lip service to this match-fixing campaign.

“They don’t really walk the talk and they have let us down. We don’t have the financial resources to execute the Asiagate programme as it should have been. We ended up taking shortcuts here and there. It has come back to bite us.

“Today or tomorrow (Jonathan) Mashingaidze and (Ndumiso) Gumede fly to Geneva to try and convince Fifa once more to see things our way. I hope they will be successful and that we can finally take this thing out. Because Asiagate has dominated Zifa business for the last 10 years, we have lost the ability to focus on things that really matter,” he said.

Munyati said he believes that in future no local player or administrator would want to be involved in throwing a match. “I think we have now created a situation in Zimbabwe where it is generally accepted that Zimbabwe football will not tolerate match-fixing.

“I think a precedent has been set and examples made and that should be enough of a deterrent for others who might have been tempted to fix matches,” he added.