adminRay Bande : Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zifa Eastern Region Division One season gets underway this weekend as Africa Trust makes their debut in the league, while Mutare Polytechnic crumbled under the yoke of prohibitive operational costs. A total of nine matches have been lined up at different venues across the three affiliate provinces – Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Masvingo.Eastern Region secretary, Simba Wisdom, who confirmed that Mutare Poly is no longer part of the league, said matches would get underway this weekend.
“We are starting the Zifa Eastern Region Division One season this weekend with a total of nine matches.
“We are hoping to have an exciting season given the zeal that the teams have shown during the pre-season preparations.
“It is sad that Mutare Polytechnic is no longer part of the league.
“They had given us hope over the years that we are going to have more tertiary institutions in the league, but unfortunately they said they can no longer carry on,” he said.
Watsomba-based debutants, Africa Trust who date Prime Rangers in their season opener are confident that they will be in the league not just to make up the numbers.
“We are confident that we will make our impact felt. This is our debut season in Division One, but judging by the preparations that we have done we have no doubt that we can match the standards in the league.
“It is too early to talk about Premiership promotion, but it is common knowledge that every team competing in a given league is aspiring to come out first otherwise they have no business competing in that league,” said Africa Trust owner, Lovemore Mandimutsira.
Africa Trust has shown character in a number of friendly matches that they played ahead of the start of the season.
The borehole drillers boast of a number of fine players in the largely remote Mutasa Central constituency where gifted players lack a platform to showcase their talents.
Be that as it may, the Zifa Eastern Region secretary, Wisdom, also confirmed that Masvingo United have also been placed on the fixtures and will only play if they manage to pay the required amount to lift their suspension.
“Masvingo, like we said before, are provisionally suspended awaiting ratification by council.
“However, we have the right as an executive committee to lift the suspension if they pay the remaining $1 950 affiliation fees from last season.
“They are also required to pay $500 costs of the lawsuit that we incurred when they took the matter between them and Mutare City Rovers to court.
“Apart from that, we are also expecting them to pay $600 player registration fees and that is when we can only expect them to play in the league,” said Wisdom.
Fixtures:
Hartley Academy v Masvingo United; Prime Rangers v Africa Trust; Tenax v Mpandawana; FC Mutoko v Chibi; Masvingo City v Buffaloes; Renco Mine v Black Eagles; Mwenezana v Ruwa; Melfort v Gutu; Calvary v Surrey.
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