adminThe tournament is set for the end of July in Harare and is organised by the national association in conjunction with Delta Beverages.
It is not the first time that the province with a total of 1 300 registered players across 36 clubs has been sidelined by the national association as last year the province was locked in protracted battles with the national body. The bickering nearly stalled the tournament and was evident even on the tournament day.
In the drama, the then BPA boss Samson Bhuza was locked out of a luncheon for all provincial chairpersons at Belgravia Sports Club on the day of the tournament. An invitation was later sent to him but he turned it down.
The development is likely to suck in Gwanda town with 20 registered clubs as they have always combined with Bulawayo when it comes to the CBL Black Ball Challenge. Also affected would be Victoria Falls which is new to the sport.
Confirming the development, BPA president Godfrey Kondo said the association was not invited to the National Pool Association’s general meeting which is set for Saturday 7 April at the Sport and Recreation Commission’s (SRC) offices at the National Sports Stadium.
The meeting had earlier been planned for 31 March.
“They (the national association) have said we are not invited as a province and the decision was arrived at following a fallout they had with the former BPA executive,” said Kondo.
He said that the national association claimed that the former BPA executive had asked to be left out of all issues handled by the association and they were merely respecting their wishes. He said his association would engage the SRC in the resolution of the impasse but said the province would not beg to be invited to the meeting on Saturday.
Contacted for comment, former BPA secretary-general Charles Dube refuted the claims, saying the association was failing to account for certain expenditure especially regarding national tournaments and was not properly constituted.
“What we simply said to them was that we wanted transparency in the CBL sponsorship deal and if they were not prepared for that we could not get involved, period,” said Dube.
Dube said it was strange that the association only cropped up when the CBL tournament was due. At any other time the committee, he said, was non-existent. Dube added that since its formation the so-called national body had never visited the province.
Responding to the claims by Dube and Kondo, the publicity secretary of the national association Munyaradzi Mudimu said it was not true that they had sidelined the province.
“Bulawayo asked to be left out of the association, no one closed them out. We are simply respecting their wishes as we are a democratic institution,” said Mudimu.
Mudimu said Bulawayo were free to rejoin the association if they wish to do so.
Online Reporter