The most popular football championship the Zonals, also called Super Nawettan, which was decentralised to the zones by the GFF in 2012, has been taken back by Football House, The standard discovered yesterday.
The decision to strip the zones of the authority to organise the zonals was made at a recent executive meeting.
Accordingly, the GFF has appointed Lang Tombong Tamba a member of the Events Management Committee to head the Super Nawettan Organising Committee, SOC.
It has also been reliably learnt that the zones were not immediately informed about this development with some zones claiming they only got the official information yesterday through a letter from the GFF.
When it was run by the zones the SOC was led by a chairman elected from among the heads of the zones helped by members drawn from all the zones. “There was a lot of fanfare and a feeling of ownership which motivated everyone. It is also the best way of demonstrating grassroots football. But with the GFF now taking back the event my fear is that the level of participation and enthusiasm could decline,” said one observer yesterday.
On the other hand the GFF has often been concerned about the level of violence, financial transparency among other organisational problems associated with the event, a trend Football House fear could undermine the trust and confidence of the sponsors and even threaten national stability. It is also understood that the new GFF controlled SOC will still comprise representatives of the zones.
