Bosso CAF suspension verdict due in September

CASTLE Lager Premier League pacesetters Highlanders will only know whether they will participate on the continent in September after the CAF annual meetings of the Standing Committees and Executive Committee.

Highlanders were suspended by the continent's football governing body last year after failing to take part in the CAF Confederation Cup, which they had been entered by Zifa against the club's will.

The Standing Committees and Executive Committee meetings are scheduled to meet in Seychelles from 30 August to 10 September.

The CAF Extra-ordinary General Assembly is also scheduled to meet during the same time.

Zifa chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze said they had written to CAF twice over the matter and he was confident the issue was going to be dealt with at the CAF meetings.

"Although we are yet to receive correspondence from CAF on the issue, I am sure the issue will be dealt with during the Seychelles meeting, where there will be various committees meeting on the sidelines. One of the committees is likely to tackle the issue," he said.

Bosso were suspended for three years by CAF after Zifa registered them as one of the country's representatives in last year's CAF club competitions despite the fact the club had written to the football mother body informing them they would not be able to embark on an African safari due to financial constraints.

CAF rules clearly state that any club that fails to fulfill fixtures gets an automatic      three-year suspension.

It is still not clear why Zifa went on to submit the club's name with other local teams when Highlanders had clearly stated they would not be able to afford the continental incursion.

Highlanders chairman Peter Dube said they had written to the PSL seeking to have the suspension lifted.

During the 2010 season Highlanders finished third on the log after Motor Action and Dynamos and they were eligible to participate in the CAF Confederations cup.

He said they were worried by the fact that they are serving a sentence for a crime they never committed and have resolved to petition the mother body through PSL to rectify the situation.

"We wrote to the PSL late last month and we are pursuing the issue because we do not believe we should be persecuted for something that we did not do.

"We feel hard done by Zifa who registered us when they had been notified we did not have the finances to participate," said Dube.

He said the club's hands are clean and the suspension should be revoked.

Last year, then Highlanders chairman, Themba Ndlela said as an executive they had resolved not to pursue the matter because they felt they were too deep in financial quagmire to be able to participate in any CAF competition within the three-year suspension period.

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