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[QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 24028, member: 2262"]
Philemon Machana and Twine Phiri Appeal ZIFA Election Results to CAS.

Philemon Machana and Twine Phiri lost the ZIFA presidential race. They say the elections were not free and fair.

They filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). They claim there was improper influence from businessman Wicknell Chivayo.

Before the election, Chivayo made promises to ZIFA councillors. He said he would give them new cars and pledged $10 million to ZIFA if Nqobile Magwizi won.

Magwizi ended up winning the election with 61 votes. Machana and Phiri argue this was due to Chivayo's "vote buying."

They say delegates knew they would benefit personally if Magwizi won, which disadvantageously affected the other candidates.

Magwizi is named as the first respondent in the appeal. ZIFA is the second respondent.

The appeal states that Chivayo clearly tried to influence the vote in Magwizi's favor. It says delegates were pressured to vote for Magwizi so that they could receive Chivayo's promised benefits.

Machana and Phiri point to an incident during the election as evidence. Officials caught a delegate trying to photograph their ballot. The appeal argues this shows delegates wanted to prove to others how they voted.

A football analyst commented on the appeal. They said the applicants lack solid proof of how Chivayo influenced the outcome. Challenging an election's integrity is very difficult.

The new ZIFA executive will have a handover meeting on Friday. They will meet with the outgoing FIFA Normalization Committee in the capital.
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