ZIFA Mash East ponders reducing its fees

MARONDERA- The ZIFA Mashonaland East Division 2 league which was won by Rusununguko High last season, is contemplating reducing affiliation fees paid by clubs this season to attract more teams.

This means that the league will propose a revised downward budget.

Oscar Tsvuura, the provincial league boss told Chaminuka Sport that this will be one of the topical issues that the board will discuss when it meets for the first time soon.

“We are yet to sit down as a board to officially plan and once we do that, we will come up with a budget which we will propose to all clubs that are intend on joining the league this season. Our anticipation is to have more clubs in the league and there is already quite a huge number of teams that showed an interest in joining us.

“The past season did not go as we planned and most teams fell by the wayside along the way. That is the reason why we want to reduce our budget to attract more teams and I hope what we will come up with will suit the needs of those clubs that will be part of us. If we increase our budget, as or may not be necessary, some clubs may not be interested to join us,” Tsvuura said.

He added that the league is in the amateur category and clubs will have to be made aware of the rules and rules that regulate the game.

Tsvuura said: “As a board, we will come up with rules and regulations that will govern the teams’ participation this season. We will extract that from the ZIFA statutes that govern football in the country and, hopefully, that will reduce the number of complaints that we have been receiving from teams.”

The ZIFA Mashonaland East Division 2 league boss also hinted that they were in contact with a potential sponsor whom he was not at liberty to disclose saying that would scupper their negotiations.

“Our aim is to make our league bigger and professional. We are in negotiations with a would-be sponsor who, unfortunately is committed to other issues at the moment. The details of the type of sponsorship that he will give us is not up for discussion. What is certain is the fact that, according to the assurances that we have from him, the sponsorship packages on the table will attract more teams to join our league,” he said.

Last season, the ZIFA Mashonaland East Division 2 league ended on a low note as only six teams ended up in the equation towards the end of the season after the majority of clubs were either expelled or voluntarily pulled out.

The affiliation fee structure for the last season US$1 000 for the clubs that had already been in the set-up while the new clubs were mandated to fork out US$1 250 hence most of them could not last the distance.

The six teams that completed the season include champions Rusununguko High, Eastern Bombers, Sambok, Hukuru, Magamba and Chivhu United.

Towards the end of last season, Tsvuura acknowledged that things had not gone according to plan.
“It is unfortunate that things did go according to what we had initially planned. The majority of our clubs failed to lure sponsors while others were promised sponsorship that did not materialize at the end of the day. In the end, some failed to pay the mandatory affiliation fees and others failed to fulfill their matches, with the log ending up haphazardly,” he said.