Mashonaland board ruled illegal

The dispute inside the Mashonaland Cricket Association took another twist at the weekend with the revelation in the Zimbabwe Standard that a Harare court has ruled that the current board is holding office illegally.

The newspaper claimed to have possession of documents relating to a court case in June in which it was found that the MCA, led at the time by Tavengwa Mukuhlani, was not constitutionally elected. Mukuhlani resigned last month blaming ongoing disputes in the province for his decision, and was replaced by Cyprian Mandenge.

Rather bizarrely, Mandenge, who was vice-chairman of the MCA at the time, was named in the court papers as being one of those challenging the legality of the very board he now heads.

The revelations are another stain on the MCA, which is now embroiled in a bitter war with its own member clubs. Last week, it expelled six clubs from its main league alleging indiscipline on their part.

Mandenge was one of those who allegedly stopped a league game between two of the expelled clubs in Harare the weekend before last, with witnesses claiming that players were threatened and racially abused.