adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
The Plumtree District Soccer League has decided to do away with registration fees after most teams failed to raise the required $20. Initially the affiliation fees were pegged at $75 but were reduced to $20 but still a number of teams could not afford, forcing the executive to totally do away with the fees.
League chairperson Chakudza Mutarika confirmed that they scrapped off the $20 registration fee in order to attract teams
The committee had announced late last year that teams had to pay a registration fee which had been reduced from $75 to $20.
The league was set to begin in February but due to the affiliation fees standoff, the season only kicked off last month.
“After the league collapsed last year as teams were pulling out because of various challenges we decided to re-launch the league and reduce the registration fee. We went for several months without any response from teams and that was when we decided to allow teams to register at no cost.
“Clubs only submitted names of their players and the technical team only. Games started at the beginning of last month and we’ve 12 teams participating,” said Mutarika.
He said most of the teams did not have sponsorship which made it difficult for them to raise the registration fees.
He said teams would, however, be expected to pay the registration fee beginning of next year.
Mutarika said the committee had managed to secure six playing grounds for free which were accessible to all teams.
He said the league had retained some of its teams from last year while they had an additional of five new teams.
The league would operate at a local level for the next two years before affiliating to Zifa.
“At the moment our league is financially crippled and teams are struggling. Teams can’t pay the $75 affiliation fees required if they have to be Zifa affiliates and they can’t afford to travel long distances for matches.
“These financial constraints are what caused the collapse of the league,” he said.
Mutarika said they hoped to market teams through tournaments in order to bring onboard sponsors.
He said they had put in place a disciplinary committee to ensure that teams followed league regulations.
The league kicked off in April 2013 with 17 teams and seven teams had pulled out by year end due to financial challenges. Out of the remaining 10 teams, eight pulled out last year after failing to license their players.
Online Reporter