adminTobias Mandoreba in Hwange
BINGA District will from this year have a Zifa Matabeleland North Division 2B League.
The district, which has been running an amateur league for years, was granted affiliate status early this week after a meeting with officials from the Zifa Matabeleland North League in Hwange.
Zifa Matabeleland North Province chairman Dennis Tshuma said granting of affiliate status to Binga district puts his province on the right footing in terms of grassroots football development.
“I can confirm that Binga will have an official Division Two League to run parallel with the existing one, which we have now branded 2A League,” said Tshuma.
“We had a meeting early in the week attended by representatives of the district, who included Chief Siansali, who is tipped to be the league’s patron, and Binga district Sports and Recreation officer Richard Siyamwamwata where we officially granted them the status to have the league that is likely to have 16 teams,” he said.
The first all-stakeholders’ meeting will be held in Binga tomorrow to address a number of issues.
“We are meeting various stakeholders in Binga tomorrow which will include all the 20 traditional chiefs and among issues to be discussed is affiliation, venues, referees and other logistics related to running a professional league.”
Tshuma said the Binga District League had formed a steering committee comprising chairman Brighton Samhungu, Zenzele Ndlovu (competitions) and Norman Chalikambila (administration).
He said they would incorporate the steering committee into their structures since they had demonstrated a huge passion and commitment for football.
Winners of the 2A and 2B leagues will gain automatic promotion to the Zifa Southern Region Division One League in 2018.
Tshuma also indicated that Binga, Dete and Lupane will have running Division Three leagues this year.
— @tobymandox
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter