ZIFA have threatened to come down hard on players who are ignoring summons to testify in the association’s ongoing probe into match-fixing allegations during the Warriors’ controversial tour of Asia at the end of December last year.

The soccer mother body has in the last few weeks been carrying out a probe into the farcical tour amid allegations that the Warriors were caught up in a web of Asian betting syndicates in which they were allegedly paid large sums of money to throw away some matches.

Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede, who is leading the association’s probe team into the Asian tour, said yesterday his committee had covered a lot of ground in their investigations but were being pegged back by some players who were part of the Warriors side on that trip.

Gumede insisted that Zifa also needed to present a comprehensive report to the Sport and Recreation Commission who are treating the matter seriously.

The Sports Commission have — since early this year — been demanding an explanation from Zifa on the trip which was also not sanctioned by the supreme sports body.

Gumede said they had given all the subpoenaed players until today and tomorrow to turn up and testify and threatened that those who snubbed the inquiry risked being sanctioned in terms of the provisions of the Sport and Recreation Commission Act.

The veteran administrator said they had taken the opportunity at last Saturday’s Zifa board meeting to update the association’s leadership on the progress they had made on their probe.

"We gave a progress report on the probe. We are almost done with the investigation and, in fact, we should have finished it already if all the players we summoned to come and testify had done so,’’ Gumede said.

Gumede also said his committee, which includes board member for competitions Benedict "Grinder’’ Moyo and board member for finance Elliot Kasu, was satisfied with the evidence they had gathered so far.

He, however, said that some of the testimony they had received had gone beyond the last trip to Thailand in December.

"Our mandate was not to look at previous cases or the previous trips to Asia. Our mandate was to look at the trip that was undertaken on 28 December 2009 but it is only that some of the people who came to testify also touched on those previous trips in their testimonies.’’

Asked why some of the players had not heeded the call to assist the inquiry, Gumede reckoned that there had been a misconception that his committee would persecute them.

"We are not here to persecute anyone because we will still have to present our findings to the board and we will also make a report to the Sports Commission.

"But the players have not been forthcoming and we have re-issued the invitations for them to come on Tuesday and Wednesday so that we conclude this exercise.

"This is the third time that we are calling them and we are saying anyone who doesn’t come when they have been invited to come and testify may have to face SRC sanctions.

"We will be left with no choice but to invoke certain sections of the SRC Act because this is a matter of national interest.

"The SRC also want to know what really happened with regards these allegations of dishonesty while on national duty and the players’ evidence is very critical because they were the main actors in this case,’’ Gumede said.

The Zifa vice-president also revealed that his probe team was keen to hear the testimony of such players like Mamelodi Sundowns newboy Method Mwanjali, who was the captain of the home-based Warriors.

"One of those critical people we have invited who still has to come is Method Mwanjali, who was the captain of the team and is now outside the country. But one of the board members has since offered to assist to fly him (Mwanjali) from South Africa so that he comes and gives his testimony and flies back.

"Technically, we should not be spending more than five minutes with players so it is not a process that will disrupt their schedules.

"We are, however, saying that to avoid the SRC sanctions they must just come to us and testify.

"We have got almost all the details of who travelled and who was staying in which rooms during that tour but I must emphasise that contrary to some rumours doing the rounds, it does not mean that if one testifies he will not play for the national team again or will be punished by Zifa for doing so.

"It must be made clear to them, once again, that that the prerogative to choose players for the national teams lies with the national selectors and not the administrators so they must not fear to come in and answer a few questions that we have,’’ Gumede said.

Warriors’ assistant coach Joey Antipas, who led the technical department on the trip, is also among those who have already testified to the probe team. A number of players including Asani Nhongo and Evans Chikwaikwai, who are now plying their trade in Mozambique; Phillip Marufu, who is playing for FC Lupopo in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Sundowns pair of Nyasha Mushekwi and Mwanjali are understood to have been part of the tour.