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first place. All teams but the two have the development teams, as others completed the registration in the second window as per the PLE instruction to do so to kick off the development games,” the source claimed, while adding that the league rules may also have an Article about what must happen to these two teams. It is an open secret that CAF frowns upon failure to adhere to the required standards, especially after insisting last season that all club licensing requirements but having women football teams be met by elite teams. The women football teams’ call was halted, as most African teams did not have them and CAF opted to suspend for a few seasons to allow clubs to recover from COVID-19 and establish the teams.

Requirement

This will soon be another requirement along with its own development sides, a situation set to make football very expensive for local teams and many others in Africa.

“Among the punitive measures in case a club was in breach of this CAF Club Licensing requirement, is that that team must be relegated to a lower league that does not require such. The affected teams can also be suspended, docked points and relegated to a lower division with a fine also possible,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

The official said they saw on Facebook that Callies was calling for juniors’ trialists, “but where will they register them? We do not anticipate any special window at this point as we wrap up our season,” a highly placed official at Sigwaca House explained, but referred the matter to the CEO as this was his presentation at the workshop.

The PLE was also sought for comment on this news, but referred issues regarding this matter to the rules and EFA. It is a known fact that CAF calls for the relegation of clubs that do not comply with the development and financial sustainability requirements. Callies Managing Director Ngudze Mamba could not be immediately reached for comment as his cellphone rang unanswered. Sea Birds Public Relations Officer (PRO) Thami Cebe, said they were having a meeting about the issue soon and that was when he could comment.

Serious

“We have seen that the matter is serious, but we worked so hard to get things in order for club licensing. Right now there’s nothing much to say until after we meet,” he said.

The MTN Premier League Rules and Regulations do cater for club licensing as per the CAF requirements. The relevant articles are listed as part of the story. In a nutshell, Sea Birds and Callies stand to be relegated. The latter are already in the drop zone and desperately trying to survive, as there are seven games remaining and the chances are still there, until Saturday’s PLE BoGs Workshop. This could come as good news to relegation-threatened Manzini Wanderers, who are one place above Callies in the bottom part of the table.