Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE City Council has taken a bold decision to withdraw funding for sporting teams that are participating in the financially draining elite leagues to reduce operating costs.
Acting Town Clerk Blessing Chafesuka told journalists at the Civic Centre this afternoon that the radical decision will see the local authority reverting to its founding principles and core business of service delivery.
He said the move will reduce costs and ensure that the local authority offers efficient and world class services to residents and ratepayers.
He described the costs involved in running sporting teams in elite leagues as exorbitant and unbearable for the local authority.
Chafesuka said Mutare City Rovers will not be the only team that will be affected by the latest decision.
He said the local authority was forking out a lot more than what they had budgeted and reserved for Gusha Bhora participation in the ZIFA Eastern Region Division One league.
He said instead, the local authority will finance social clubs made up of its employees that will be participating in local social leagues.
Mutare City Council has been bankrolling Mutare City Rovers, Mutare Queens (in a national netball league) as well as Mutare Queens in the national women’s Premier Soccer League.
