Zifa Midlands to have one league

Midlands Correspondent
Zifa Central Soccer League and Zifa Midlands are on collision course with the latter accusing the former of poaching its teams. Midlands lost six clubs to the Central Soccer League after the region invited clubs from the provincial league to join it, a situation which left the third tier provincial league with just 11 teams in both Division 2A and Division 2B.

As a result Zifa Midlands has merged the two leagues to form one league.

ZPC Munyati, Sable Chemicals, Mvuma Stars and ZETDC Gweru were invited while Gweru United and Ivan Hoe were promoted into the Central Soccer League, a development which Zifa Midlands chairman, Brian Chishanga says has weakened the region.

“Gweru United and Ivan Hoe are going to Division One and under normal circumstances they’re going to be replaced by those relegated. Central Region has now taken ZPC Munyati, ZETDC Gweru, Sable Chemicals and Mvuma Stars which means we’ve lost six clubs to the Central Soccer League yet they haven’t relegated any team.

“This compromises the quality of the league as these clubs are going into Division One without having qualified. The formulation of the region is to provide eight teams from Matabeleland South and Midlands. Zifa Midlands will have 11 teams in the 2015 soccer season and in just five months the season will be over,” he said.

Zifa Midlands has resorted to inviting teams from Gafa Area Zone to increase the teams to participate in Division Two this season. Efforts to get a comment from Zifa Central Region board member, Stanley Chapeta were fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable.