Eastern Region soccer season kick off date set

THE Zifa Eastern Region Division One 2019 season will kick-off in the last week of next month, the fixture secretary Patient Dube has confirmed.

Dube said that they have done the induction workshop for the newly promoted clubs Ruwa Sports Club, Ratings, Chiredzi Stars and returnees Mutare City Rovers.

“The 2019 Zifa Eastern Region soccer league is set to commence the last week of March. In preparations for the start of the new season, we did an induction workshop for the new teams three weeks ago.

“We also did the online player registration course for clubs last week which was meant to equip the new clubs with knowledge on how to register their players,” said Dube.

He said they have clubs put on standby but are likely to eventually be part of the league like Chipinge Stars, FC Makahan of Mutoko and Greyham of Ruwa.

The fixture of the season will be released in due course.

A total of 16 clubs will participate in the 2019 season.

The clubs which were relegated include Zero One One, Gutu FC, Masvingo United and Melfort.

Dube said there are chances to increase the number of teams to 18. He also said they will close the player registration on March 31.

“The door is still open and we can consider some more teams in the league to add up to 18. If Masvingo United is still interested we will welcome it back into the league. We have increased our affiliation fees a bit from last season.

“The new clubs will pay $3 500 from last year’s $3 000. Old clubs will pay $3 000 from last year’s $2 500,” he said.