Former ZIFA boss Vincent Pamire has challenged the football mother body’s leadership to adhere to its own constitution.

This follows widespread debate on the right to stay in office of the ZIFA structures.

Debate has centred on whether the Phillip Chiyangwa board still has a mandate to run the association after it assumed office to complete the former president, Cuthbert Dube’s tenure.

In the midst of the debate two executive members, Piraishe Mabhena and Felton Kamambo, stepped down citing they strongly hold that elections are due and that as executives they have completed their tenure.

Pamire, the man who was at the helm of the soccer mother body in the country when Zimbabwe qualified to its first AFCON in Tunisia 2004, urges the football administrators to abide by the constitution for the sport to retain its respectability.

“They must go by the book. Follow their constitution and not have personal interests and protect the game. They are not protecting it. I’m sorry, a lot of people including sponsors are losing interest. We hope common sense will prevail,” he said.

Pamire went on to advice the ZIFA leadership that failure to sort out the issue would incite the involvement of government to correct matters which should not be the case.

“They mustn’t in the end cry foul when the government gets involved because there is no way a government can just watch this thing falling apart. The most important sport in the country is football and if football goes down, the government also goes down. So i would be surprised if the government lets them do as they wish because it is not their sport. It belongs to all of us,” said Pamire.

Fifa has recently indicated that it was closely studying the ZIFA congress resolutions and would be making their position public soon.- state media