Zim FA boss is jailed

HARARE – Rafik Khan, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa), has started serving a two-year prison term for an offence committed 17 years ago.

A conviction, for breaking into and stealing from a car in 1989, was upheld on Monday by Harare magistrate Jackie Munyonga. The three-year sentence – which contained a 12-month suspension – was imposed in 1992 but Khan was granted bail pending an appeal, which is yet to be heard.Despite the unexplained delay in hearing the appeal, the attorney general’s office decided to pursue the imprisonment of Khan late last year.He was arrested on his return from South Africa on Monday, where he was the match commissioner for a Champions League game.”I can confirm that Rafik Khan was picked up by the police,” said police spokesman chief superintendent Oliver Mandipaka.”We handed him over to the courts in compliance with the warrant of arrest.”Khan was elected Zifa chairman in November 2003 and was due to step down on 26 March, when elections for a new board will be held.-BBCThe three-year sentence – which contained a 12-month suspension – was imposed in 1992 but Khan was granted bail pending an appeal, which is yet to be heard.Despite the unexplained delay in hearing the appeal, the attorney general’s office decided to pursue the imprisonment of Khan late last year.He was arrested on his return from South Africa on Monday, where he was the match commissioner for a Champions League game.”I can confirm that Rafik Khan was picked up by the police,” said police spokesman chief superintendent Oliver Mandipaka.”We handed him over to the courts in compliance with the warrant of arrest.”Khan was elected Zifa chairman in November 2003 and was due to step down on 26 March, when elections for a new board will be held.-BBC