NATIONAL Association of School Headmasters (Nash) Under-17 football tournament director Mwandibuya Mutepfa has warned participating schools to desist from age cheating, which has been rampant in recent years.
By OUR Staff
Mutepfa spoke to Standardsport on the sidelines of the official launch of the Under-17 Arenel football tournament in Harare on Friday. He said that there had been rampant age cheating in past tournaments and measures had been put in place by the organising team to make sure resources were not wasted on overaged players.
“I think this has been a big problem in most of the tournaments that have been played. But this time around, measures have been put in place to make sure we channel the resources to the correct players. We are not going to take age cheating lightly. We have talked to all the stakeholders, including school heads and teachers. If anyone is caught cheating, the matter will be treated as a criminal case and the law will have to take its course,” Mutepfa said.
Arenel has joined Coca Cola and Population Services Zimbabwe (PSI) in sponsoring football development in schools.
The tournament, which will kick start in the second week of second term at zonal level, will be sponsored to the tune of $152 000.
Schools that will bow out at zonal and district level will not get anything while those that get to provincial level will take away some packages. The finals of the tournament are set for Harare on August 2 at a venue yet to be decided. Mutepfa is the former Premier Soccer League secretary general.
