“Earlier this year, when we held the first Mbada Diamonds Cup board meeting, Quelaton came to the meeting without their kit. This is something which we expected to be known by every team in the league. We want all new clubs to know what is expected of them to avoid further embarrassment,” said Ndebele.
At one stage, during the just ended season, Quelaton fielded an unregistered player during a league match. “It is embarrassing to see clubs engaging in such unruly behaviour and we hope the workshop will put an end to such issues. An advantage for next season’s qualified teams is that they already know they will be in the topflight league, unlike Hardbody, whose relegation can be blamed on their confirmation having come just a week before the start of the season, due to some boardroom decisions in their region.”
Although the league has managed to win sponsorship from the corporate world, Ndebele confirmed that a lot still had to be done for it to be called professional. “We expect our clubs to be true ambassadors of the game, but many still have to improve on their level of professionalism.”