HARARE - Phase Two of the Zifa Village was yesterday handed over to the local football governing body by the contractors at a function witnessed by the Fifa regional development officer, Ashford Mamelodi.

The facilities handed over, which include 26 rooms, a television lounge and a dining-room, will provide camping facilities for the  Warriors and various national and visiting teams.

Zifa believes the facility in Mt Hampden, on the outskirts of Harare, will ease the financial burdens bedevilling the cash-strapped association, whose unapproved audited accounts for 2010 showed an accumulated net loss of $962 570.

“This project will see Zifa cutting down on expenses for accommodation for teams, board members and assembly members.

“We cannot afford the high accommodation bills,” said Zifa president Cuthbert Dube in his acceptance speech.

Yesterday’s handover has set the stage for world football body Fifa to release funds for Phase Three once the contractors’ concepts and proposals are approved.

The next phase will involve the construction of a football pitch, dressing rooms, floodlights and a technical centre for use by national teams.

Zifa communications manager Nicky Dhlamini-Moyo told the Daily News yesterday that Fifa was happy with the way Zifa had resuscitated the project and had committed themselves to the funding of the next phase.

“Mr Mamelodi is very happy with the progress that has been made to date, said Dhalamini-Moyo.

“Fifa is ready to release further funds once contractors’ designs and concepts have been approved.”

Dhlamini-Moyo added that the new facility will start to be fully operational once the furnishing and other minor details have been attended to.

“I am sure the Zifa board meeting on tomorrow (today) and the Zifa assembly meeting on Saturday will provide a way forward on the use of the new facilities,” she added.

The construction of the Zifa village has for a long time been mired in controversy amid allegations that successive Zifa boards had failed to utilise the grants availed by Fifa in a transparent manner.

Last year Fifa availed an additional $150 000 over and above the US$400 000 which it approved for the same project.

In December 2009, Fifa head of development for Africa Cyril Loisel visited the Zifa Village and was not impressed by the defective and sub-standard facility.

To avoid misappropriation, Fifa is now paying directly to the contractors with none of the funds going through Zifa.