Zimbabwe Saints To Spend Another Year Out of Football

THE Zimbabwe Saints faction led by board of trustees chairman Ishmael Kaguru will not take part in the Zifa Southern Region League this year.

Saints who were kicked out of the Southern Region after failing to clear arrears from the 2024 season and affiliating last year, had their fate sealed in Esigodini at the weekend.

Their matter was not brought up for discussion as any other business as no club petitioned the regional body within the prescribed period at the Zifa Southern Region annual general meeting on Saturday.

Last year, at the beginning of the year, the faction wrote to Zifa requesting that they be excluded from competition to sort out their in-house problems that have seen two bodies emerge with the other with Tawanda Ruzive as chairman while Lloyd

Munhanga doubles up as chairman and chief executive officer.
Asked about the issue on Saturday, Zifa Southern Region chairman Cris Mtungwazi said: “The matter was not on the agenda.

Sorry, I have nothing else to say, we are bound by football rules,” said Mtungwazi.

Saints wrote a letter on the eve of the meeting addressed to Zifa members appealing for re-admission contrary to sporting merit expectations of promotion and demotion. They argue that they had banked their franchise last year when Munhanga was the regional boss before losing to Mtungwazi in December last year.
Munhanga was chairman of the club in 2024 when they failed to pay their obligations to the region.

“We the Trustees of Zimbabwe Saints FC, being the custodians of the Club, write to express our deepest and sincere apologies for the unacceptable behaviour of our representatives at the Zifa Southern Region AGM of 2925 and for our failure to meet our financial obligations to the League. We acknowledge that our actions were unbecoming and fell short of the standards expected of a 90 year old club member,” reads the letter that bears the signatures of Kaguru, Martin Mabvira and Gibson Homela.

On Saturday Homela and Mabvira were visibly disappointed after their case was not discussed at the Zifa Southern Region annual general meeting.

Homela cried as Mabvira lashed at the clubs and Zifa.
Soon after the conclusion of the meeting which was short and to the point the duo sought audience with the regional Zifa body who would not entertain them as the matter was not on the agenda.

The other faction which has Vincent Pamire as trustees boss and Tawanda Ruzive as chairman did not attend the meeting. However they have vowed that they will be in active football this year with a Division Three franchise having already been secured.