Bulawayo City fulfil their commitment

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

PREMIERSHIP returnees Bulawayo City FC finally sent registration documents for part of their 2020 squad yesterday after beating affiliation deadline.

The league had set Tuesday, March 10 as the administrative player registration deadline, with Cranbourne Bullets the only paid up team out of the four that were promoted into the topflight.

Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) side Tenax and City had made part-payments while another ZPCS side Whawha were yet to pay a dime on player registration deadline meant to facilitate the process of sorting player licences that will be delivered to clubs in time.

City, Tenax and Whawha had up to end of yesterday to clear the $208 000 affiliation or risk being expelled.

“We paid our dues on Thursday and we are good to go. Remember, we had made commitment and were always certain of paying up and now we’ve sent the player registration documents to the league so that they process our licences,” said Jerry Sibanda, Bulawayo City chairman.

Among players that City will register are striker Mgcini Sibanda, defender Lewis Ncube, forward Bothwell Nyathi, the experienced trio of defender Kudzai Chideu, defensive midfielder Dominic Mukandi and attacking midfielder Hillary Bakacheza.

Tenax cleared their affiliation balance at 3pm yesterday, with chairman Stefani Masina emerging from the bank in jovial spirit.

“Tenax is coming to Bulawayo to play giants Highlanders, Bulawayo Chiefs, Bulawayo City and Chicken Inn this season and fans should brace to watch us. We’ve been working hard during pre-season and we will use Sakubva Stadium in Mutare as our home ground. We are also planning on alternating our home games, with some being played at Rusape’s Vengere Stadium,” Masina said.

By 4pm yesterday, Whawha chairman Watson Matara was still “stuck” in the bank, waiting for the transaction to go through.

PSL spokesperson Kudzai Bare, who was on her way to Bulawayo for today’s Castle Challenge Cup between league champions FC Platinum and Chibuku Super Cup winners Highlanders could not be drawn into confirming if all the teams had paid up.

“Look, we asked them to send proof of payment and only then can we comment after checking with our accounts desk,” said Bare. – @ZililoR