The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
POPULAR Mutare junior football academy, La Sakubva’s registration fee has finally been paid and steps to register their players on Fifa Connect are now at an advanced stage, thanks to Mai Hondo Soccer Associates.
The move is expected to allow La Sakubva to enter into legally binding contracts with their players to enable the academy to claim benefits from the sale of its products.
The recent sale of La Sakubva product — Lasi Jesi — to Sudanese side Al Hilal did not bring any financial benefits to the junior football club.
When Post Sport reported on this unfortunate development, attention was drawn to how academies’ informal operations are weighing them down.
Mai Hondo Soccer Associates — a private social enterprise born out of the annual Mai Hondo Soccer tournament initiative — chipped in to meet all the expenses of formalising La Sakubva’s operations.
Jesi was officially unveiled as an Al Hilal player early this week after the contract signing ceremony.
Mutare Premiership side, Manica Diamonds, and some middlemen are the biggest beneficiaries of the deal while La Sakubva — the academy that nurtured the talented midfielder from the tender age of nine until he was 19 — will get nothing.
Since the academy’s formation in 1992, La Sakubva has been producing a galaxy of stars that went on to join big clubs. However, the Sakubva-based academy has nothing to show for it.
Blessing Mutsaka, Mai Hondo Soccer Associates’ chief associate, revealed that they had come to La Sakubva’s rescue.
“We have paid the Zifa registration for La Sakubva so that they can be formally and officially recognised as a junior football entity. We are moving ahead with online registration of La Sakubva’s players.
“For the academy’s 200 plus players to be registered on Fifa Connect, medicals were required and the costs were prohibitive. We had to use our influence to mobilise medical practitioners to assist La Sakubva.
“We are also extending this initiative to other junior football clubs in Mutare. We might not be able to cover all of them, but we will try to cover as many as possible.”
Mai Hondo Soccer Associates have been running the exciting annual Mai Hondo Junior Soccer Tournament for the past few years.
Mutsaka said Jesi’s sale reminded stakeholders of the need to formalise operations.
“All along we have only been concerned with the technical aspects of the game — from the annual tournament to the kits and the coaches’ training.
“We had not realised the importance of the clubs’ governance structures. This is a learning curve, an eye opener.
“We need to ensure that informal junior football clubs are not prejudiced as they are the bedrock of football development.
“For as long as the players sold are under 23 years old, academies are entitled to a development fee,” said Mutsaka.
