Sportivo fume

18 Oct, 2015 - 00:10 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Tinashe Kusema
NEWLY-crowned Northern Region Super League champions Harare Sports Club are fuming amid revelations that they will not be representing the country at next year’s Cell C Community Cup in South Africa as widely expected.
Sportivo believed they had won the right to take part in the competition after beating rivals Old Georgians 18-11 in last weekend’s final at ZB Sports Club.
Club chairman Donald Mangenje claims the belief stemmed from a meeting the top flight clubs held with Zimbabwe Rugby Union as the season headed for the business end.
“About a month ago, ZRU called a meeting with all the local clubs and explained to us what was at stake this season. ‘Win the league and represent the country at the Community Cup in South Africa’ is what they told us.
“We prepared for the finals with that tournament in mind, and were about to begin a few programmes designed at preparing us for the Community Cup.”
ZRU director of rugby Brighton Chivandire says there was communication breakdown.
“I think there has been a misunderstanding or at the very least a breakdown of communication,” he said.
“Yes, South African Rugby Union (SARU) did approach us with an invitation to participate in their Community Cup.
“However, we need to prove that our league is competitive enough first and that we have all our structures in place.
“We hosted a representative from SARU last week, Duane Heath, their programmes’ manager in charge of club rugby.
“He was in the country for a string of meetings and attended the final to assess the competitiveness of our league.
“He has since returned home, where he will submit his report to SARU and then give us feedback.
“If the deal goes through, then the earliest we can expect to take part in the tournament is 2017.”
The latest developments have left the newly-crowned champions crest fallen a week after claiming a title that came with no monetary rewards as the league ran without a sponsor.
“For ZRU to now say that the deal has not yet materialised and that we might have to win the league next year to qualify is both frustrating and very disappointing.
“To our understanding, everything had been signed and sealed. That is what ZRU told us at least,” said Mangenje.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds