NOMINATIONS for the Zifa presidential elections closed yesterday with the association’s former president Trevor Carelse-Juul making a surprise appearance on the list submitted yesterday.
BY SPORTS REPORTER
A source yesterday revealed that Carelse -Juul submitted his nomination papers before the deadline to set up a three-man showdown with incumbent Cuthbert Dube and Harare City Football Club chairman Leslie Gwindi.
Although the candidates for the March 29 election will only be made public after the vetting process on March 22, sources told NewsDay Sport that the three were the only ones who had put their names forward for the country’s top soccer job.
While Dube and Gwindi’s participation in the March 29 polls was generally in the public domain, it is the entry of Carelse-Juul which came as a surprise.
The former Bulawayo Wanderers and Dynamos coach was Zifa chairman in the early 1990s and was replaced by Leo Mugabe. Football broadcaster Charles Mabika and former player Charlie Jones had also been tipped to enter the race, but sources said they did not submit their nomination papers.
Gwindi will, however, have to battle his five-year ban first before he can contest the election. His nomination papers could likely come under scrutiny during the vetting meeting.
Zifa’s disciplinary committee slapped the outspoken administrator with a ban following his public utterances in which he allegedly denigrated the association, the Premier Soccer League and their sponsors Delta Beverages.
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Gwindi has since made a High Court application challenging the ban.
Xolisani Gwesela, the Zifa spokesperson, said the association would only announce the names of the candidates contesting the election after vetting of the nominees. “Although the nomination closes on March 14, the rules of the election state that we can only announce the names of the candidates after they have been cleared by the vetting meeting,” said Gwesela.
“The vetting meeting for the Zifa board meeting is going to be held on March 22 and after the candidates have been cleared that’s when we will be able to make their names public.”
