Sports / Local
Bantu Rovers juniors left in the cold
27 Mar 2013 at 07:07hrs | Views
BANTU Rovers Football Club will have to wait a little bit of time before they are readmitted into the Zifa Bulawayo Province Junior League.
The position was taken during a special council meeting held in the city on Saturday where a five member committee to look into the Bantu Rovers case was appointed but no timeframe was given for them to finalise their investigations.
Provincial Juniors League secretary-general Faith Dube confirmed the latest development.
"That five-member committee will have to do a thorough job and report back to the assembly. It's either we will have another special meeting or they will have to report during our mid-season council meeting but until then, Bantu Rovers remain expelled," said Dube.
The junior league season kicks off next weekend.
Dube said the meeting felt it was not proper for the council to hear the Bantu Rovers case since it was the same council that laid charges against Tshintsha Guluva and convicted them.
Bantu Rovers are said to have written a letter of apology to the council and asked to be re-admitted into the league.
"There are some issues that are emerging but I am not at liberty to disclose them. It is those issues that the committee has to look at before coming up with a position," said the provincial secretary general.
Sources told Chronicle that Bantu Rovers are accused of advising players to go back to their clubs but refuse to play.
"Players are being told to go back to their clubs. However, the strange thing is that once they are back, they start telling their clubs that they can no longer play football or are injured and we believe they are simply following instructions," said the source.
The authenticity of the allegations could not be verified but other sources seem to indicate that it's another way of making sure Tshintsha Guluva remain in the woods.
The decision to expell Bantu Rovers, which affects all their junior teams, the Under-14s, Under-16s and the Under-18s was taken at an emotionally charged annual general meeting held at the YWCA offices in the city in February.
At a meeting held at Zifa last month, provincial chairman Mkhululi Mthunzi told club representatives that his office had failed to come up with a statute that Bantu Rovers violated.
Clubs however did not take that well and said Bantu Rovers were in breach of agreed resolutions.
The position was taken during a special council meeting held in the city on Saturday where a five member committee to look into the Bantu Rovers case was appointed but no timeframe was given for them to finalise their investigations.
Provincial Juniors League secretary-general Faith Dube confirmed the latest development.
"That five-member committee will have to do a thorough job and report back to the assembly. It's either we will have another special meeting or they will have to report during our mid-season council meeting but until then, Bantu Rovers remain expelled," said Dube.
The junior league season kicks off next weekend.
Dube said the meeting felt it was not proper for the council to hear the Bantu Rovers case since it was the same council that laid charges against Tshintsha Guluva and convicted them.
Bantu Rovers are said to have written a letter of apology to the council and asked to be re-admitted into the league.
Sources told Chronicle that Bantu Rovers are accused of advising players to go back to their clubs but refuse to play.
"Players are being told to go back to their clubs. However, the strange thing is that once they are back, they start telling their clubs that they can no longer play football or are injured and we believe they are simply following instructions," said the source.
The authenticity of the allegations could not be verified but other sources seem to indicate that it's another way of making sure Tshintsha Guluva remain in the woods.
The decision to expell Bantu Rovers, which affects all their junior teams, the Under-14s, Under-16s and the Under-18s was taken at an emotionally charged annual general meeting held at the YWCA offices in the city in February.
At a meeting held at Zifa last month, provincial chairman Mkhululi Mthunzi told club representatives that his office had failed to come up with a statute that Bantu Rovers violated.
Clubs however did not take that well and said Bantu Rovers were in breach of agreed resolutions.
Source - chronicle
