BCC to evict Municipals Sports Club tenants

Bulawayo City Council plans to evict current tenants at its Municipals Sports Club to pave way for it's newly promoted Castle Lager Premiership side - Bulawayo City Football Club.

The current tenants are said to be struggling to pay rentals.

One of the requirements for playing in the top league is for each club to have a registered Club House.

The Municipal Sports Club was initially established for recreational purposes for Council employees.

According to a report seen by Bulawayo24.com on Wednesday, due to poor patronage immediately after independence, the sport facility was leased out to the residents of Famona where it is located.

The Club House boasts of a number of facilities for sporting activities, though most of them were now dilapidated due to lack of care by the current lessees. Council said the sports fields could be easily revamped and greened since there were boreholes there. However, the boreholes also needed refurbishment. Even the Club house itself would require some attention, and the football team saw this as a challenge that could be overcome.

It was hoped that the takeover of the facility would assist the team raise funds and thus reduce dependence on Council.

The team will also use the football grounds for training purposes and thus reduce pressure on the existing Council stadia caused by the increase in the number of teams in the city.

The Director of Housing and Community Services Zanele Hwalime said  the current tenants were in arrears and were in serious breach of the lease conditions.

There was provision for termination of the lease.

Meanwhile, in order to reward the players and the technical team, and at the same time market the team for sponsorship, the Soccer Advisory Board of Council plans to hold an awards ceremony this Saturday.