By Elvis Dumba
Banket — The soccer community including some Banket United fans are skeptical over ZIFA elections presidential candidate Nqobile Magwizi‘s position in the team after he was reported as one of the team’s board member.
Some of the team’s supporters and executive committee members have denied that Magwizi is a board member as the team’s constitution whose franchise is held by Zvimba Rural District Council constitution does not have a clause for board members with Magwizi being reportedly only the known board member.
“We were surprised to hear that we have a board member, Magwizi at the team’s awards ceremony which he sponsored and we were told he was one of our sponsors an announcement that surprised us looking at the struggles our team has been going through and if he has been sponsoring the team, where was that help going all along as we had to literally beg? ” an avid team supporter said.
The supporter who only identified himself as Tinkler said the team executive sold them a dummy at the awards ceremony saying only few individuals in the executive team got kickbacks to enable Magwizi qualify for the ZIFA presidential race by claiming he had been a board member of the Northern Region Division One team since 2017.
“We suspect and its highly that money exchanged hands and this was just to allow Magwizi get into the ZIFA race, for the whole season we never heard about Magwizi and we only heard about him when the season had already lapsed we thought he was just a well-wisher for our awards ceremony and surprisingly we were told he is our team’s board member we don’t even know when that board was set up and who are the other members of that board,” he said.
Magwizi recently came on the football front after he threw his candidature for the ZIFA Presidency.
According to regulations, to stand as ZIFA presidential candidate, one needs to have at least five years of experience in football administration within the last ten years.
This requirement is part of the eligibility criteria for presidential aspirants, which also includes being a Zimbabwean citizen, being at least 40 years old, and having a minimum of five Ordinary Level passes and it is reported Banket United has fronted the narrative that Magwizi has been a board member of the team since the year 2017 for him to meet the eligibity criteria.
A member of the executive team who requested not to be named for fear of victimization said it’s disheartening that few individuals have benefited at the expense of the club and its players.
“It’s unfortunate that few individuals are benefiting at the expense of the team as players rely on well-wishers to put food on the table and i would want to salute the community of supporters in Banket and local business people who have been chipping in to support our players and it’s unfortunate some of the guys whom we thought are there to assist us are only doing that for personal gain and with ZIFA elections on the card they found an opportunity to line up their pockets in Magwizi who have suddenly appeared as a board member and its surprising how he made it through the vetting to stand as a presidential candidate” the member said
The same sentiments were echoed by one of Banket United’s players who in fear of reprisal requested to remain anonymous who said he only heard about that Magwizi has been assisting the team on the awards ceremony.
“It’s only that we are not much vexed on what happens on the technical side of the team as we focuses on the field and we only heard that Magwizi has been assisting the team as a board member and i am not sure where was that support being channeled as players we were relying on well-wishers in the community to get food for our so called club house which saw some players leaving the club as they had to make a living,” he told this publication
“I have been playing for the team for some time now, the only notable people i have known to be financially supporting the team are the likes of Blessing Joseph ,Dandajena, Mayor and one Ricardo Washeni its only recently we have heard about Magwizi unless these guys are saying their contributions they were making were actually coming from Magwizi.” He said
The revelation put cold water on Magwizi’s claim in his campaigning resume that as a board member from 2017 he has actively contributed to the strategic oversight and growth of Banket Football Club, ensuring strong governance and resource mobilization.
Questions sent and delivered to Magwizi were not responded to whilst numerous follow up calls were not being picked although the messages were being forwarded to some members of the team executive.
The struggling Banket Football Club sometime have been turning to a begging bowl to fulfill fixtures and fans are puzzled on how the team was struggling when Magwizi is reportedly to have been sponsoring the team since 2017.
Meanwhile during the investigation of the story one overzealous supporter of the team who claim to be the team’s committee member, Honest Svondo threatened this reporter with unspecified action including match barring for attempting to scare away ironically the new “sponsor” who has been reportedly supporting the team since 2017.
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