African safari nightmare…Caf get tough on club licensing

12 Oct, 2014 - 09:10 0 Views
African safari nightmare…Caf get tough on club licensing Dynamos vice captain Tawanda Muparati chests the ball during a CAF Champions League encounter against AS Vita of DRC played at the National Sports Stadium early this year. Zimbabwean clubs will have to align their administration with CAF regulations if they entertain hopes of participating

The Sunday Mail

Fatima Bulla and Langton Nyakwenda

Dynamos vice captain Tawanda Muparati chests the ball during a CAF Champions League encounter against AS Vita of DRC played at the National Sports Stadium early this year. Zimbabwean clubs will have to align their administration with CAF regulations if they entertain hopes of participating

Dynamos vice captain Tawanda Muparati chests the ball during a CAF Champions League encounter against AS Vita of DRC played at the National Sports Stadium early this year. Zimbabwean clubs will have to align their administration with CAF regulations if they entertain hopes of participating

ZIMBABWEAN soccer clubs risk being excluded from next year’s Confederation of African Football competitions if they do not meet the continental body’s tough club licensing regulations.

The Caf club licensing regulations, which are policed by member associations, seek to promote and improve the quality and level “of all football aspects on the continent.”

The regulations came into effect in March 2012 but the continental body has been lenient with non-compliant clubs but they have since tightened the screws, exposing local clubs to the possibility of missing out on continental club competitions.

The regulations demand, among other things, that clubs participating in both the Caf Champions League and the Confederations Cup should have audited financial accounts, run an approved youth development programme, appoint a full-fledged secretariat operating in a recognised office space as well as certified stadiums with doping control rooms.

Non-complaint clubs have until November 30, the deadline for registration of teams who intend to participate in the Champions League or Confederation Cup, to put their houses in order.

The development will leave most local top-flight clubs racing against time as most, if not all, still fall short of Caf’s minimum requirements.

Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze confirmed Caf’s hard-line stance following his meeting with the continental body’s club licensing manager, Ahmed Salem in Egypt, a fortnight ago.

Mashingaidze was in Cairo to present Zimbabwe’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations bid.

“Caf made it clear that clubs without anything close to compliance will not take part in the Caf Champions League and the Confederations Cup Competition as of January 2015.

“They have been lenient with us since 2012, but now they are making it clear that come next year, clubs that are not compliant will not be allowed to compete,” Mashingaidze said.

Caf’s club licensing regulations, which are policed by local football governing bodies, have set minimum requirements that should be met by clubs all over the continent.

The requirements are classified under different criteria according to importance and clubs that breach “Criteria A” are automatically barred from participating in inter-club competitions.

Under Criteria A, clubs are required to have vibrant youth programmes manned by a youth development manager while the appointment of youth head coaches is a must.

On the administration front, clubs without a vibrant secretariat, general manager, finance officer, qualified security officer and recognised office will not participate.

Annual audited financial statements are one of the top requirements.

Clubs are also required to have a certified stadium with floodlighting, first aid rooms and doping control rooms.

Clubs that breach “Criteria B” regulations may be subject to sanctions while “Criteria C” requirements are best practice recommendations which may or may not lead to punishment.

Caf says: “The Caf clubs licensing system shall have the undermentioned objectives:

The promoting and improving of the quality and the level of all football aspects in Africa;

Ensuring that the clubs have the appropriate infrastructure, knowledge and application in respect of management and organisation;

Adapting and improving the clubs’ sporting infrastructure;

Improving the economical and financial capacity of the clubs, through proper corporate governance and control;

Ensuring and guaranteeing the continuity of the international competitions of clubs during the season;

Allowing the parallel development and comparison amongst the clubs by ensuring the necessary compliance in terms of financial, sporting, legal, administrative and infrastructure criteria.”

Mashingaidze revealed that Zifa had agreed with Salem to host a seminar in November, which will be attended by Caf representatives, to follow up on compliance.

“Beyond next year, teams that are not complaint will not be registered with the top-flight leagues because Caf is getting stricter.

“Our football in Africa lags behind massively in comparison with Europe whose clubs started complying in the 1990s.

“This new dispensation is good for the clubs because we have challenges with executives being fired, gate-takings not being accounted for, teams failing to travel to fulfill fixtures and clubs having no offices to operate from.

“These compliance measures will contribute to stability and the growth of the game through proper corporate governance,” Mashingaidze added.

Mashingaidze added that Zifa will engage the Premier Soccer League for an indaba aimed at mapping a way forward. With most of the clubs facing financial challenges, Mashingaidze disclosed that Caf will assist with a grant to support those that have made an effort to meet the requirements.

“They have agreed to give a grant to clubs that would have met 80 percent of the club licensing requirements so that they can continue improving,” he said.

In its regulations the continental body states that it shall carry out spot checks to enforce the process.

Dynamos have been the country’s major representatives on the continental front, but the club’s poor administration puts it in contravention of Caf’s new requirements.

Highlanders were slapped with a three-year continental club competition ban which lapses at the end of the year and they, too, would find it difficult to step in line with the Caf regulations.

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