CASH-STRAPPED Zifa are expecting Fifa to assist them with funding in order to bring to finality the Asiagate chapter that has long gripped the domestic game. Zifa are under pressure to bring their probe into the national teams' match-fixing allegations to an end in time for the start of the 2012 domestic season next month.

But Zifa, who have already blacklisted more than 80 players and some coaches, risk having their financial indebtedness growing as they also have to pay members of the Justice Ebrahim Independent Ethics Committee.

The committee is expected to bring to a close the Asiagate case by interviewing those implicated and drawing a set of recommendations for those that will be found guilty.

Zifa vice-president, Ndumiso Gumede, yesterday revealed that they had made their financial plight known to Fifa through the world soccer governing body's head of security Chris Eaton when he visited Zimbabwe to get an insight into the Asiagate probe.

Gumede also said they had appraised Fifa development officer for Southern Africa Ashford Mamelodi of the challenges they faced with funding the Asiagate operation on their own.

Zifa have had to largely depend on association president Cuthbert Dube to fund their operations."Eaton had promised that Fifa would assist in meeting some of the costs related to Asiagate including paying for the Independent Ethics Committee because we told him of our intention to have that independent committee and he approved of it.

"Mamelodi has also acknowledged our plight and indicated that Fifa are looking into it. "As you know our resources are very limited and this exercise could increase our level of indebtedness,'' Gumede said.

Gumede also said the Ebrahim committee had stepped up its work after gathering most of the information they needed ahead of the start of a series of interviews with individuals whose names were implicated in the Asiagate report.

"That is an independent committee and they have started their work, they also called in Ben Moyo to explain the procedures on how the national teams are assembled and such information like the roles of heads of delegations and how they are appointed.

"Because they are independent, we cannot put them under pressure to do this and do that."Once the Gumede probe team finished its report the Ethics committee was mandated to mete out the disciplinary recommendations to Zifa and I doubt if Zifa will tamper with those recommendations'' said Gumede.

The Zifa vice-president also spoke about the arrest of their former chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya and insisted that the matter was now beyond his association as it had been assumed by the State.

"When our probe team did its work, certain sections regarding our former CEO bordered on criminality and we referred them to the police and they did their own work so that matter is no longer in our hands, it is now the State versus Rushwaya.

"So as far as Asiagate is concerned, it is up to Justice Ebrahim to summon her or not because Moyo and myself did have a chance to interview her.

"But that is now water under the bridge and I am sure those who were there before us like Nyatanga (Wellington), Muzambi (Gladmore) or Madzorera (Tendai) would be the ones who will testify,'' Gumede said.

Gumede also leapt to the defence of under-fire Zifa board member competitions Benedict Moyo, following sensational allegations at the weekend that the former Warriors and Mighty Warriors coach may have handled "dirty money'' during the Warriors international friendly against Japan just days before the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The match ended in a 0-0 draw but not before the Warriors received a US$20 000 appearance fee which was paid through Moyo as the head of delegation.

Gumede in defending Moyo said the Kwekwe-based official was "on a mission to check out for any indicators to match-fixing syndicates.

"By the time Moyo took the Warriors to South Africa I was acting president of Zifa and we were already dealing with the matter.

"So he was investigating the matter and I had indicated that he should bring back US$10 000 and give the players US$10 000 but the players demanded US$20 000 and that there was a mercenary trend among the players.

"So to begin to try to implicate Moyo is mischievous because he was on a mission to investigate and his report when he came back from there helped our investigating team a lot in terms of the workings of the betting syndicates.

"Some of the players demanded more money once they recognised the faces they had seen on their trips to Asia and that was key to my committee in terms of our probe into Asiagate,'' Gumede said.

Gumede also joined the rest of the country in congratulating Zambia's Chipolopolo for being crowned the African Champions following their triumph over Cote d'Ivoire in last Sunday's Nations Cup final.

The Zifa vice-president said his association needed to draw major lesions from their counterparts at the Football Association of Zambia.

"It is only right that we pay special congratulations to our neighbours and to realise that we played a small part in the process for them to realise that they passed through us in the final stages of their preparations for their qualifiers when we played them and beat them at Rufaro which helped them note that they could not afford to be complacent.

"We thank them for bringing glory to the region because not so many people know where Zambia or Zimbabwe is but with this success they will know.

"We also thank them for the huge lesson that you can achieve a lot by setting aside your differences."FUZ were facing an internal crisis with some people trying to oust Kalusha Bwalya and were it not for Fifa's intervention they could have been at sixes and sevens.

"So the biggest lesson we have to learn as Zimbabwe is to abandon this culture of holding grudges that we have. It must stop.

"We can have differences but we should also learn to set them aside for the good of our football, Zambia have shown what they can achieve with unity,'' Gumede said.