The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
OUTGOING Zifa Bulawayo Province board member development, Mkhululi Mthunzi says affiliation fees are bleeding clubs and his first port of call when elected into the post of chairperson will be to reduce the charges to give clubs breathing space.
Mthunzi said many clubs are struggling to pay the $800 being charged by the province as affiliation fees, particularly in a league that does not come with any financial rewards.
He acknowledged there are administration duties that have to be taken care of by teams but the figure can be reduced through having more teams, adding he intends luring clubs to agree to a two-tier Division Two league.
“One tier will involve Under-20 or Under-23 teams while the other will not have age restrictions, with the top teams from each tier getting the nod to Division One.
“I will use my negotiation experience and skills to get a downward revision of referees because that is another area that is a thorn in the flesh for teams. Individuals are making sacrifices to run teams and develop talent but they are being bled and we need to see where we can assist them reduce costs.
“When I assume office, I will also come up with ways of protecting clubs from ‘vultures’ that feed on players that clubs work hard to produce. Clubs need to be rewarded for the effort they put in in developing players and not to just lose players they invest in without getting a return on their investment,” Mthunzi said.
He said they managed to attract a number of sponsored tournaments that impacted positively in the development of players such as the Benjani Mwaruwari Under-16, Biya and Friends Under-14 and Under-16 tourneys among others.
“We manage to train quite a number of coaches in the junior league and school teachers to ensure young players are taken through the paces by qualified coaches. Introducing different tiers for the junior league to have Serie A and Serie B also worked wonders as it allowed those at different levels of the game to play against each other,” he said.
Mthunzi will compete against incumbent, Francis Ntuta and Oscar Mazhambe for the post with elections slated for 1 September.
