Gumede calls it a day

NDUMISO Gumede (pictured) has quit football, ending a career of over three decades in football management.

BY FORTUNE MBELE

The veteran football administrator said he will walk away from the game when his contract as Highlanders chief executive officer expires tomorrow.

Gumede, who turned 71 in October, is currently banned by Zifa from all football activities for penning a letter to Fifa accusing the local football leadership led by Philip Chiyangwa of ineptitude.

He is accused of peddling falsehoods to the world football mother body in an attempt to unseat Chiyangwa’s executive committee.

Gumede yesterday said he quits football without any regrets.

• Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
• Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
• Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
• Councils defy govt fire tender directive

“I am going to be taking a deserved rest. It has been a long journey. The suspension by Zifa is unfortunate. I wrote to Fifa on July 25 representing a group of disgruntled people including football administrators and businessmen complaining about a situation that was obtaining: the formation of Nafaz, the association running without committees and unfair dismissal of employees. I have no regrets for what I did because subsequent to that correspondence, Fifa sent someone to investigate the scenario. And if the Zifa electorate is going to endorse my suspension, it will not affect me. I have played my part,” Gumede said.

Gumede initially wanted to quit football in 2014, but was swayed back by Highlanders who offered him his current job, a position he held up to this day.

He has also held higher positions at Zifa where he was the vice-president of the association from 2010 to 2014.

During his time at Zifa, Gumede was tasked with investigating the infamous Asiagate match-fixing scandal, which saw 80 footballers, coaches and administrators suspended and banned for allegedly throwing away matches.

“I regard the Asiagate investigations as one feather in my cap. The (Wellington) Nyatanga regime was asked by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to explain how the Warriors participated in those matches not sanctioned by the SRC which were organised by Henrietta Rushwaya. Unfortunately their term expired, but the SRC still wanted answers,” Gumede said.

A committee, which included then Zifa board members Elliot Kasu, Benedict Moyo, Fungai Chihuri and Methembe Ndlovu, was tasked to investigate the Asia trips.

“We went as far as South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana trying to unravel the intricacies of Asiagate and were lucky that Fifa, through (head of security) Chris Eaton, encouraged us to continue with the probe. Unfortunately, Eaton promised that the investigations would be funded by Fifa, but the international governing body said he did not have that authority. We then set up an independent committee (headed by retired Justice Ahmed Ibrahim) to further interrogate the matter. We supported his recommendations, suspended and banned some people but although Fifa commended us for the investigations which they said were exhaustive, they found an anomaly in that the cases were not handled by a disciplinary committee,” Gumede said.

He said the probe was made easy through the concessions of then Warriors manager Ernest “Maphepha” Sibanda and coach Joey Antipas.

Chiyangwa has since pardoned the Asiagate perpetrators.

Gumede is seen as the brains behind Highlanders’ acquisition of properties in the mid-1980s when he was chairman of the club.

He was elected to the Highlanders top post after the departure of Malcolm King. It took the intervention of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo though for the reluctant Gumede to take up the chairmanship post.

“In 1984, I was Highlanders basketball chairman and the football club chairman Malcolm King left before then end of his tenure. A number of people said that I should take over, but I refused. In 1985 I was called by Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo to his house and he asked why I was refusing to take up the post against the people’s wish. That was when I became Highlanders chairman and in 1986 Highlanders won every trophy that was available except for the league. I am extremely happy with the contribution I have made at Highlanders where I worked with a resourceful and forward-thinking committee and through collective efforts we acquired the club offices and the house in Luveve called Hotel California,” Gumede said.

Gumede says his interest in football dates back to the 1970s when he was a teacher at Highfield Secondary School in Harare, where he was sports master and he taught legends like Oliver Kateya and Shakeman Tauro and at Mzilikazi High where he taught Netsai Moyo and Sidney Zimunya.

He says in 1980, he accepted membership to the Zifa committee at the behest of Joice Mujuru, who was Sports and Culture minister of independent Zimbabwe.

He has worked at Zifa as vice-chairman to Nelson Chirwa, and as secretary in 1988 after the resignation of Julius Chifokoyo, working with the likes of Frank Valdemarca and Douglas Mkhwananzi.

Gumede was the first head of the Zifa secretariat as chief executive officer under Leo Mugabe in 1998 and under Vincent Pamire, before being shown the door by Rafiq Khan in 2004.

He bounced back in 2010 as Zifa vice-president to Cuthbert Dube and before his ban last month, he was Zifa honorary vice-president.

“It has been a very exciting and fulfilling hobby that turned into a career. There are only 14 countries that I have not travelled to in Africa, something I would not have achieved had I remained a teacher. But it has not been easy…the innumerable insults that you get and brushes with the law. I remember in 1985 I was quizzed by the law enforcement agents at Bulawayo Central Police Station, as Highlanders were accused of funding Zapu,” Gumede said.

He has been Caf administration instructor and match commissioner, local chairman of the referees’ committee and was part of Fifa’s Interpol match-fixing prevention programme.