Zimbabwe FA changes name, declares itself debt free

The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) has reformed under a different name. Its president, Phillip Chiyangwa has revealed the new name will be known as the National Football Association of Zimbabwe (NFAZ).

The previous body ZIFA has however folded with a debt of more than $6 million. The president said that the debt, which is blamed on the organization’s previous leadership, will now be dealt with by a liquidator.

“I can tell you now that we don’t owe anybody anymore,” Chiyangwa told the BBC.

Official: National Football Association of Zimbabwe (NFAZ) the new local football governing body as ZIFA is… https://t.co/ptcwSMNPU0

— Soccer24 (@Soccer24Zim) June 4, 2016

He added that the reformation had been approved by FIFA, although the world soccer body said that it “has not received any communication on the outcome of Zifa’s extraordinary congress on 4 June 2016 to decide on the possible dissolution of the association”.

Zimbabwe’s football has been marred by a financial crisis for years owing to mismanagement, alleged corruption, and the general economic situation of the country.

At one point ZIFA had to sell off assets, including an artificial training field, to raise money to pay its debts, reports AP.

Zimbabwe which qualified for the AFCON 2017, was thrown out of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers by FIFA for failing, after numerous warnings, to pay a former coach wages it owed him.