adminAll along the association has been operating on a social level.
Zifa Matabeleland North chairman Dennis Chuma confirmed the granting of Division Three status to the Melusi Ndebele led Tshodifa that has 10 teams from across the district.
“We received a letter from their chairman, Ndebele which was initially requesting for Division Two status but after discussions with him, we agreed that Division Three status was best for them,” said Chuma.
He said the reason behind changing Tshodifa’s initial request was because of such things as affiliation fees, as it was felt that teams might not be able to raise the affiliation fees for Division Two, which are set at $250 while Tshodifa was charging just $50 for teams to join their league. Next year Division Two affiliation fees will be pegged at $375 for a new team and $300 for old teams.
“The figures might be too high for them as new kids so we are going to visit Tsholotsho early next year where we will discuss all the requirements with the clubs and also to find out whether they want the present executive to stand because all that will be forwarded to our headquarters in Harare because their league will now be recognised by Zifa,” said Chuma.
The provincial football boss said they were impressed with the performance of Tsholotsho FC in the Zifa Southern Region Division One League where the team fulfilled all their fixtures, an indication that they were fully prepared.
The team also survived the chop in their first year while seasoned clubs like Zimbabwe Saints found the going tough.
The team that will win the league race in the district will, according to Chuma either compete in the Lupane Division Two league or join the Horace Ndubiwa led Zifa Bulawayo Division Two league although Chuma was quick to state that his executive will first engage their Bulawayo counterparts.
Matabeleland North is difficult to manage and new teams find it hard to fulfill matches due to the geographical setup of the province, a situation that has led to the formation of district leagues to cut travelling costs.
Already, Chuma has managed to create four leagues, Lupane, Binga, Dete and now Tsholotsho with Nkayi expected to have its own league too.
Meanwhile, Evans Sibanda of Dinyane Pirates and Moment Dube of Tsholotsho Pirates have been invited for trials by Chicken Inn head coach Adam Ndlovu.
derick.khumalo