Asiagate appeals deadline set

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Black Leopards technical advisor Sunday Chidzambga, Mamelodi Sundowns defender Method Mwanjali and Bidvest Wits defender Thomas Sweswe are among 13 players and officials that were handed life bans by Zifa for reportedly accepting money to influence the outcome of matches involving the Zimbabwe national team between 2006 and 2009.

The three are all appealing the heavy sentence.

After holding a meeting over the weekend, Zifa have announced November 30 as the deadline for those implicated in the scandal to lodge appeals.

"…We are currently serving the individuals with their letters and all appeals have to be noted by no later than November 30, 2012 to enable the appeal committee to start preparing for the hearings and release of the documents required by the appellants.

"We are now approaching the festive season and we want these appeals to be done before year end," Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze says.

World football governing body Fifa – who have been closely monitoring the match fixing scandal – says local channels should be exhausted first before any appeal can be made to them.

Fifa is still probing the process Zifa followed to impose bans before deciding whether or not to extend the sanctions worldwide.