Whawha miss PSL affiliation deadline

Sport
WHAWHA’S future in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is hanging in the balance after it emerged that the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) side failed to meet the affiliation fee payment deadline.

BY TERRY MADYAUTA

WHAWHA’S future in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is hanging in the balance after it emerged that the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) side failed to meet the affiliation fee payment deadline.

There is already an air of mystery surrounding how the prison wardens will manage to survive, with no sponsorship coming into the club and having to deal with the harsh economic environment prevailing in the country.

The league debutants missed the initial deadline on January 31 before it was later on extended to February 21.

Whawha chairman Watson Matara admitted that the club did not meet the affiliation deadline owing to financial challenges.

“Of course, we are no longer in line with the set deadline, but we are hoping to pay it soon. “There are steps to be taken and we hope that it will soon be sorted out,” he said.

Sources close to the team told StandardSport that the Gweru-based side was pinning its hopes on one of the country’s financial institutions, BancABC, who are believed to have promised to assist.

Contacted for comment, PSL public relations and media liaison officer Kudzi Bare said they had not received any communication from Whawha.

“This is on record, Whawha are still a member of the PSL. We have not received official communication regarding their failure to affiliate,” she said.

Meanwhile, the club coached by former Warriors striker Luke Petros-Jukulile has also opted to stick to the players that helped them gain promotion as ZPCS is also burdened with funding another promoted outfit Tenax, which is based in Mutare.

Unlike other PSL clubs, Whawha are not active on the transfer market.