THE 2017 Zifa Southern Region Division One Soccer League season will kick off on the weekend of April 15-16 after finalising clubs’ registrations.

Musa Mandaza, the Zifa Southern Region boss said the delay in start is meant to kick off the season without hassles of player licence delays.

“The season will start on the second weekend of April and by then we should be done with all player registrations and issuing out of licences. At that time, we also expect all the teams to have paid at least 50 percent of their affiliation fees,” Mandaza said.

Zifa Southern Region has reduced affiliation fees for its clubs, with old teams set to pay 20 percent less that they did last year while the level for newly promoted sides has been slashed from $3 000 to $2 750.

Musa Mandaza, the Zifa Southern Region chairman said old teams will fork $2 000, $500 less that what they paid last season.

Four teams from the Zifa Bulawayo Metropolitan Province and Matabeleland North Division two Leagues were promoted into the First Division and will each pay $2 750.

Chiwororo and Zim Leopards finished first and second respectively in the Bulawayo Division Two League, with Motomoto of Hwange and Victoria Falls’ Mosi-oa-Tunya winning promotion into the First Division from the Matabeleland North League.

The region has agreed to do away with a resolution to have 18 teams passed in 2015 and revert to a 16-team league, a move Mandaza said will improve the quality of competition in the league.

Attempts to implement the resolution of 18 teams last season flopped following the withdrawal of Victoria Falls’ Trumus and the collapse of Nust, who were using the Quelaton franchise.

—@ZililoR