Lovemore Chazingwa
Mash West Bureau Chief
ZIFA Northern Region Soccer League suffered a falls start on the first outing over the weekend as match officials were not available.
This state of affairs came to light when the ZIFA NRSL D1 board sent a communique to all clubs, at the eleventh hour.
“The Northern Region Soccer League regrets to announce the cancellation of match day one fixtures and the postponement of our 2026 league program.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, ZIFA’s late notice on the non-availability of match officials has forced us to reschedule.
“We had submitted our roadmap to ZIFA in January, indicating a kick-off date of February, 28, 2026, expecting the requisite training workshop for Elite Referees and Match Commissioners to have been held in time and allow for the smooth commencement of our 2026 fixtures,” reads the communique.
NRSL conceded to inconveniences caused due to the last minute change.
“We apologize to member clubs and stakeholders for the inconvenience as a result of this last minute development.”
Clubs interviewed by The MidWeek Watch took a swipe at the league for the inconveniences.
A media officer whose club is based in Harare expressed disappointment over the situation.
“I think there was non-lateral communication between ZIFA and NRSL. If it was there, that’s pure maladministration. In our case, we have our main sponsor who flew all the way from Dubai, to watch the purported season opener as per schedule, but it failed. It greatly affected us in terms of morale in our camp. Had it been that it was communicated a week before, adjustments were to be made accordingly. Pursuant to that, sponsor confidence will be negatively affected.”
Another team representative from Mashonaland West province concurred.
“Communication is key. Cancellations should be communicated timely so that teams travelling long distances are not disadvantaged in terms of logistics.”
The board did not furnish with details on when the season is now expected to kick off, leaving clubs and stakeholders in the dark.
