SHAMED former ZIFA Chief Executive Officer Henrietta Rushwaya was arrested on Thursday by police investigating match fixing in football, her lawyer confirmed.
Rushwaya was fingered as the nexus of a multi-millio ndollar match fixing scandal in which Zimbabwe’s national football team players and coaches were paid to lose matches in Asia by predetermined scores, earning racketeers millions from the bookies.
The mastermind of the betting syndicate, Singaporean national Wilson Raj Perumal, is in jail in Finland after being convicted of match fixing in the European country.
Rushwaya was arrested by detectives from the Anti-Corruption Task Force and was detained at Avondale Police Station, her lawyer, Selby Hwacha, said.
She faces charges of corruption, bribery and match fixing, according to the lawyer.
A ZIFA investigation into match fixing found that Rushwaya had cleared the national team to make unsanctioned trips to Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia between 2007 and 2009.
On the trips, players were told to play to lose, and paid thousands of dollars each once the required result was achieved. Some players admitted playing to the syndicates' instructions, but said they feared being killed if they refused to comply.
Rushwaya was sacked from ZIFA in disgrace.
Earlier this week, ZIFA announced it was blacklisting all players who were named by an internal report from playing for the national team.
ZIFA president Cuthbert Dube said all 80 players named in the report will have their fate decided individually by an independent ethics committee headed by retired judge Justice Ahmed Ebrahim.
The committee says it will issue sanctions before the start of the Premier Soccer League season in March, and officials have warned those found guilty could be banned for life from all football activities.
Some of the top stars affected by the blacklisting are current captain Method Mwanjali, Edward Sadomba, Method Mwanjali, Nyasha Mushekwi, Ovidy Karuru, Zhaimu Jambo, Washington Arubi, Daniel Vheremu, Khama Billiat, Gilbert Mapemba, Willard Katsande and Thomas Sweswe.