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Mzingaye Sibanda Sports Reporter
THE Benjani Mwaruwari Junior Soccer Festival finals will be held at White City Stadium this weekend.
Initially, the event was meant to be held on the last weekend of the month but the sponsors opted for this Saturday and Sunday.Eight teams are set to clash in the finals which will be spread over two days with competition starting at group level. The teams are drawn into two pools.
Zifa Bulawayo board member Mkhululi Mthunzi said they had moved the tournament to this weekend because the former Warriors skipper Mwaruwari would be available. He has prior commitments abroad after this weekend.
“Yes we have changed the dates of the tournament to this weekend instead of May 31 because Mwaruwari would be in the country this week before going to Europe for holiday,” said Mthunzi.
Bulawayo Junior Soccer League clubs will battle for honours whose prizes will be made available as soon as Mwaruwari lands in the country.
Ajax Hotspurs, Mpumelelo, LMC Academy, Chicken Inn, Santos and Bantu Rovers are the teams that secured the six junior league slots. Bantu Rovers were roped in by virtue of being best losers in the last elimination round.
Defending champions Highlanders were not given the benefit of being automatic qualifiers and were booted out in the preliminaries by Emakhandeni. They are disputing the authenticity of the ages of some of the players who did duty.
Bosso Under-13s, 15s and 17s have taken a hardline stance on age cheating with a thorough vetting process before a player can be registered. Despite noble efforts by people like Mwaruwari, Sihlangu Dlodlo, Mkhuphali Masuku and Dumaza Dube in creating a platform for future stars, the war against cheating is an on-going battle.
Mwaruwari’s former school Magwegwe Secondary School and Masiyephambili College are the two schools that received wild card entries to the event. Their participation has brought the number of participants to eight in the Under-16s extravaganza.
The tournament is in its third year and is sponsored by Mwaruwari, a former Zimbabwe international who will conduct the draw at Zifa House today.
Mthunzi praised the level of competition exhibited this year which saw defending champions Highlanders being booted out in the first round.
“The tournament has improved a lot, the issue of power houses is fading away that’s why teams like Highlanders and Bantu Rovers lost in the process,” said Mthunzi.
Bukhosi Sibanda, Denzel Khumalo and Mthabisi Tshuma are some of the players that are now plying their trade in the Premier League who starred in the Benjani Mwaruwari Junior Soccer Festival.
Online Reporter