Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
HABANE Pirates have turned down an offer from Zifa Central Region to take up Dendairy’s slot in Division One, with the Esigodini-based team opting to remain in the Matabeleland South Division Two League.
Zifa Central Region had approached Habane Pirates to take over the void left by the withdrawal of Dendairy but the offer seemed to have come too late.
Stanley Chapeta, the Zifa Central Region chairman confirmed that Habane Pirates had not accepted the offer and they will now map the way forward on which team gets to take up Dendrairy’s slot to bring the teams to 18.
One of the Habane Pirates financial backers, United Kingdom-based Thembani “Yena” Mpofu stated that the club rejected the Zifa offer to play in Division One since their goal is to build on what they accomplished last season.
“After carefully considering the Zifa offer, time and financial situation of our club, we would like to confirm that Habane pirates will be playing in D2 again this season. Our goal this season is to build on what we achieved last season and deliver on our pledge to invest heavily in the squad, ensuring that Habane Pirates would always compete in higher leagues,’’ Mpofu said.
Seeing how their would-be opponents had prepared for the new season in Division One was one of the considerations made by Habane Pirates. Their other concern was the fact that they had not managed to strengthen their squad from last season.
“When we received an invitation from Zifa to join D1 Central Region, we declined the offer because it was a bit too late. Considering how deep preps are for many teams. There was no time for us to strengthen our team and also our financial situation changed.”
A staggering bill of $72 230, consisting of $53 852 in affiliation fees, $14 084 for player registration as well as $4 293 for ground inspection further deterred Habane Pirates from accepting the Zifa Central Region offer.
On top of that, the money that Zifa requested from us to join D1 was too much. Affiliations fees, players registration fees and sundries were totaling $72,230.00. That’s a lot of money considering the time. We had already been planning and preparing for D2 football again this season,’’ said Mpofu.
His co-sponsorship partner Franklin Sibanda also weighed in, stating, “We were bitterly disappointed by Zifa at the end of last season. We thought we would be playing in D1 this season. We had planned for D1, but when we heard that we won’t be promoted we lost quiet a lot of sponsors who were not interested in being part of us in D2. That also meant we lost a lot of funds in the process, which is disappointing. Nonetheless, we will be playing D2 this season and our main target is to get promoted to D1 next season.”
Habane Pirates recently received a boost when Mpofu presented them with a kit made up of tops, shorts and socks. Training apparel has also been secured for the team.
“We managed to buy the team a new football kit and some training equipment. We are passionate about this club and bringing this new kit to the team. The new kit looks great and I’m sure our supporters will love it.”
At the end of last year, there was excitement as the people of Esigodini thought Division One football was headed to their beloved Mpelele Stadium. Habane Pirates, who finished second in the Matabeleland South Division Two League had for the bulk of the season been under the impression that they were going up together with champions, Talen Vision Academy. Zifa however, only promoted one team from the 12-team league.
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