The Sunday Mail
Neville Dube
Sports Reporter
ZIFA Northern Region Division One League teams have been urged to pull together and brace for a frantic programme when the league resumes in a fortnight.
The Covid-19 pandemic looks to have taken its toll on the lower league’s operations, with a bulk of the fixtures getting postponed due to a glut of positive cases.
Northern Region Division One Soccer League (NRSL) spokesperson Sweeney Mushonga said going forward, the priority will be to clear the fixture backlog.
“We kick-started our league programme immediately after we received the green light and saw some of our games spilling over the Christmas festive period.
“Sadly, Match Day Four was a totally different story. Many fixtures were postponed after some teams got ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, and as many seven players from different teams tested positive.
“Going forward, we intend to give priority to these outstanding games and clear all the outstanding fixtures when the league returns after the Christmas break.
“We cannot guarantee that there will not be more disruptions to our league programme owing to the fixture backlog and coronavirus.
“However, we are currently in the process of coming up with measures predominately aimed at protecting the integrity of the game and ensuring the safety of our players and officials.
“All postponed matches will only be played once authorised by our medical team,” he said.
Mushonga called for a unified front against the pandemic.
“We remain hopeful that we will have an exceptionally successful season, regardless of the inherent challenges.
“The current situation calls upon all stakeholders and players to pull in the same direction if the league stands any chance of surviving this pandemic,” said Mushonga
The NRSL officially returns during the weekend of January 15 and 16, with clubs expected to regroup as early as tomorrow for training.
