adminRicky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA Southern Region has been rocked by a players transfer fee scandal following revelations that the regional football body has been charging clubs $60 for every player transferred.Clubs in the region and the Zifa Bulawayo Metropolitan Province have been threatened that they will not kick the ball if they don’t pay the fees.
Already clubs in both leagues have found the going tough in terms of raising affiliation fees pegged at $2,500 for old teams and $3,000 for new ones.
New teams in the Zifa Bulawayo Metropolitan Province forked out $800 affiliation fees while old ones were levied $600.
These affiliation fees exclude player licence fees which are $20 per player which translates to $500 in player licence fees.
Several clubs in both leagues complained about the fee.
“Imagine we are in Division Two and we are being told we’ve to pay about $600 in transfer fee. Are these guys (Zifa) really normal? There’s nothing to play for in this league. We are trying to develop talent and to be honest there’s no club in this league that can afford to buy a player from another team,” said a club official.
Clubs in the championship — Southern Region Soccer League — eying PSL promotion have not been spared with some believing that the move to burden them with levies is unjustified.
They claim that they have beefed their sides with players that are having a free agent status.
“Certainly we can’t be bullied after paying huge amounts said to be affiliation fees yet we get a raw deal. Zifa shouldn’t fundraise through us. What is surprising is that for all the players who come in as free agents we are being levied $60 each. Why should we pay Zifa transfer fees when no monies are involved in player movements?” said a disgruntled club official.
A member of the Zifa Southern Region executive committee blasted his chairman, Musa Mandaza, and board member finance, Bryton Malandule, for enforcing the flat $60 transfer fee without verifying the status of players.
“Only when money exchanges hands or the player goes on loan do clubs pay that transfer fee. It’s absurd for the chairman and the board member finance to assume that all players who move at the beginning of every year would have been bought and the clubs have to pay transfer fees. The problem is that people
(Malandule and Mandaza) who’ve never run clubs and don’t understand the burdens that the clubs have, are driving the Zifa Southern Region ship,” said a member of the board.
Mandaza was at pains to explain how they arrived at charging the already suffering clubs the $60 transfer fee.
He defended the levy, saying it has always been there and they were doing so in line with the transfer matching system.
“I’m on my way to Harare now but that transfer fee has always been there. You can’t register a player moving from one club to another without paying that amount. We can tell who moves through the transfer matching system,” he said.
“If clubs were not paying that transfer fee in the past, then they’ve been enjoying a free ride.”
The Southern Region Soccer League kicks off tomorrow.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Bulawayo City v Indlovu Iyanyathela (White City), Bantu Rovers v ZPC Hwange (Luveve), Amagagasi v Trumus (Chinotimba), Ntabazinduna v Nust (Ntabazinduna), Old Nic Mine v Hwange Juniors (Old Nic Mine), Mpumalanga v Black Boots (Nengasha), Technosphere v Makomo (Lwendulu)
Sunday: Bulawayo Chiefs v Casmyn (White City).
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