12 clubs miss Sulom deadline

While Sulom set yesterday as the deadline for player and club registration, according to The Nation findings, only three Super League clubs—Azam Tigers, Airborne Rangers and Mafco—out of 15 had completed the process.

Sulom general secretary Williams Banda said the league set the day to ensure smooth club and player licensing exercise, but fell short of outlining the consequences in the event that the teams failed to meet the cutoff point.

Banda yesterday said he could not comment on the issue as he was yet to check with the secretariat on how many teams had finalised the registration process.

“I am out in the field and I will need to check with the secretariat on how many teams have completed registration,” said Banda. But a well-placed source confided in The Nation that: “So far those [Tigers, Airborne and Mafco] are the only teams that have registered.”

Some clubs such as Big Bullets, Mighty Wanderers and Silver Strikers yesterday confirmed that they were yet to finalise the registration process, but were hopeful of completing the exercise by close of business today.

Said Bullets chairperson Kondi Msungama: “We are aware that the deadline was today. There were one or two things that we had to work on regarding the issue of contracts, but we should submit everything by close of business tomorrow.”

Silver’s GS Mike Tembo said: “As for us, we are finalising and we should be submitting everything tomorrow.”

After the registration process, the teams are expected to process club and player licences, with FAM, which will be issued upon submission of medical certificates, contract copies, registration forms and a passport.

At a club licensing system [CLS] meeting called by FAM recently, it was resolved that with effect from this season, a player without a licence will not be registered.

Asked why Sulom has put Karonga United on the fixture when there is a dispute regarding the Northern Region Football League (NRFL) championship, the Sulom GS said: “The communication we got from the NRFL was that Karonga were the champions and we have not received any communication to the contrary from either the league itself or FAM.

“So, our assumption is that Karonga United are the champions unless we are advised otherwise.”