adminRicky Zililo Sports Reporter
THE expulsion of Zimbabwe Saints FC from Zifa Southern Region Division One Soccer League is imminent after they failed to meet yesterday’s deadline to pay their affiliation fees. Chikwata have to pay $2,500 to participate in league matches. Their game against Tsholotsho FC which was scheduled for yesterday and their weekend encounter against Mpumalanga in Hwange were both called off because of the arrears.
Zimbabwe Saints officials had by yesterday morning been making frantic efforts to raise money to pay Zifa before end of business which unfortunately they failed to do.
Zifa Southern Region officials could neither confirm nor deny that Chikwata had failed to raise the money.
“I am just arriving from Harare where I had gone for an induction workshop at the Zifa Village in Mount Hampden and I haven’t heard anything about Saints. You may check with us at 5PM when we close and maybe then they would have arrived,” said Zifa Southern Region administrator Augustine Ndlovu.
He could not be located at the office at the time he had set with staff at the Zifa office remaining tight-lipped on the issue.
Musa Mandaza spoke tough against clubs failing to comply with league requirements and said there will be no special treatment for Zimbabwe Saints.
“It’s only that I haven’t been briefed by the office staff but what I can tell you is that they have to comply with the requirements of the league and if they don’t do that they will face the consequences. All the teams in the league are the same and we treat them equally and in the spirit of Fair Play there are no special clubs,” said Mandaza.
However, Zimbabwe Saints organising secretary Jabulani Chinyangarara who is also a member of the Zifa Southern Region board said his club had managed to get an undisclosed amount that they intended to pay to Zifa.
Chinyangarara said Zimbabwe Saints’ vice-chairman Ishmael Kaguru was in possession of the money and had been assigned to take it to the Zifa offices around 4PM but surprisingly no one at the offices could confirm payment.
“Because of my position at Zifa Southern Region, I don’t want to be compromised and comment about Zimbabwe Saints issues but what I can tell you is that we ran around and some of the money raised passed through my hands and it is with Kaguru. He is the one who will make the payments,” said Chinyangarara.
Online Reporter