FIFA has lifted its 18-month suspension of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) just days before the draw for the African qualification competition for the 2026 World Cup, officials confirmed on Monday.
An interim normalization committee has been appointed to run the affairs of ZIFA until elections for a new management team are held.
Zimbabwe was suspended by the global governing body in February 2022 following perceived government interference in the running of the troubled football association.
The executive committee of ZIFA was ordered dissolved in November 2021 by the country’s Sports and Recreation Commission, a government-appointed body, amid allegations that money given to the association by the state for Zimbabwe’s participation at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations finals was misappropriated.
“The Bureau of the FIFA Council decided to lift the suspension that was imposed on the Zimbabwe Football Association in February 2022 and appoint a normalization committee with immediate effect,” FIFA confirmed in a statement on Monday.
Among their day-to-day duties, the normalization committee will also “review the ZIFA Statutes and Electoral Code to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements, and to ensure their adoption by the ZIFA Congress”.
The normalization committee will be chaired by local administrator Lincoln Mutasa and must complete its mandate by June 2024.