Banned trio in limbo

The careers of Black Leopards coach Sunday Chidzambwa, former Mamelodi Sundowns captain Method Mwanjali and the Wits defender Thomas Sweswe face an abrupt halt as soon as the life bans they were handed by Zimbabwe are extended worldwide by Fifa.

The trio were among 15 implicated in the Asiagate match-fixing scandal and handed lifetime bans from the game by the Zimbabwe Football Association after a year- long investigation into their national team and a betting syndicate from Singapore.

Their immediate futures rest solely on how long it takes for Zifa's report into the affair to reach Fifa headquarters in Zurich and for world football's governing body to then extend the bans worldwide.

Fifa, as a matter of routine, expands any bans imposed for match-fixing by one of its member associations to all other territories.

They have been taking a tough line on cleaning up a growing scourge in football and only two weeks ago its president Sepp Blatter reaffirmed his determination to have any person involved in match-fixing kicked out of the game forever.

Zimbabwe said those banned could appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport in Switzerland, but this would be an exceedingly costly exercise.

In the future there is also the possibility of criminal charges against those banned in Zimbabwe.

Already the Asian match-fixer at the heart of the scandal has been jailed for his part in similar activities in Finland and Hungary.

The three PSL clubs soon to be affected by the bans have been surprisingly indifferent to the long-running scandal, which has been described as "despicable" by the retired judge asked to head the investigations.

Black Leopards chairman David Thidiela said he was backing his coach and called him a victim of trial by media. Thidiela has told Chidzambwa not to make any comment about the affair.

Sweswe played on Friday night against Kaizer Chiefs in the Telkom Knockout, just hours after the ban was announced.

Zifa earlier this year banned a host of South Africa-based players from playing for their national team - The Warriors - because they had been implicated in the affair, but they all continued to play on in the PSL as if nothing had happened.

Further bans for other players involved - ranging from six months to 10 years - will be announced over the next month, Zifa said.

Mamelodi Sundowns striker Nyasha Mushekwi is among those likely to be banned for a period of time, having escaped a life ban because he apparently spilt the beans on much of the subterfuge, according to reports in the Zimbabwean press.