AfricaPress-Tanzania: MEMBERS of Zanzibar Football Federation (ZFF) attending the federation’s Annual General Meeting here have opposed the Vice President of ZFF Salum Abwe saying he doesn’t deserve to hold the post.
The move forced the members to vote and 11 said yes while the majority 25 voted against him in the meeting held here at Kilimani Hall.
In retrospect the members also reinstated the federation’s President Seif Kombo Pandu after getting 21 votes while three members voted against him.
The meeting and the election was supervised by the registrar of sports bodies in Zanzibar, Suleiman Kweleza who interviewed the candidates before the voting process.
The meeting also gave votes of confidence to the six members of the federation’s executive committee. The members are Ali Mohammed Ameir, Nasra Juma, Kibabu Haji Hassan, Seif Mohammed, Omar Ahmed and Salum Ali Haji.
The Zanzibar Football Federation (ZFF) (previously known as Zanzibar Football Association) is the governing football Federation for Zanzibar. The ZFA were an associate member of the African governing body, the Confederation of African Football.
Following a rejection from FIFA in 2005, the ZFA were removed from CAF and after much lobbying were reinstated as an associate member. This meant that the club sides associated with the ZFA can participate in the continental club competitions organised by CAF but the Zanzibar national team could not.
The ZFA are not entitled to vote in CAF affairs due to their associate member status. Players from Zanzibar are eligible to play in international competition for the Tanzania team, the representative of the sovereign territory. As a nation state, it has competed in regional competitions since 1949.
It currently competes in CECAFA organised tournaments. The ZFA was admitted as a full member of the CAF in March 2017 but lost membership four months later.
In March 2017, the Zanzibar Football Association voted on whether to change their name to Zanzibar Football Federation and in 2019 ZFA turned ZFF.
