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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

PREMIERSHIP debutants, Tenax, heaved a huge sigh of relief yesterday after the Premier Soccer League admitted them back in the top-flight league.

The Mutare side, who were expelled even before the season had started after failing to meet the deadline to settle their affiliation fees, finally managed to raise the $208 010 required.

PSL Communications and Media Liaison Officer, Kudzai Bare, yesterday confirmed the Mutare side were now in good standing and had been cleared by the league’s Emergency Committee.

The club’s chairman, Stefani Masina, said they were now looking forward to their debut season in the top-flight league.

“We are happy to be admitted to the Premier Soccer League,” he said.

“It was going to be a huge disappointment, not only for me as the chairman, but for the whole Tenax family after all the hard work that we had put in from Division One and winning the Eastern Region.

“We invested a lot of hard work into this although there were challenges that we encountered.

‘‘It was more of technical issues on our side but everything is back on track.

“As a club we are very relieved. The good thing is that we never stopped our preparations even when we got that letter informing us that we had been expelled.

“The team has been busy at work preparing for Premiership football and we look forward to our first season in the top-flight,” said Masina.

Tenax secured their maiden ticket into the Premiership after winning the ZIFA Eastern Region Division One.

But, their campaign ran into early troubles as they struggled to raise the affiliation fees.

According to PSL, new entrants are supposed to fork out $208 010 in affiliation fees.

This amount comprises a membership fee of $107 841. 25, a security deposit of $51 150 and a subscription fee of $49 018,75.

Questions have risen as to whether Tenax will be able to survive the rigorous demands of the top-flight league, considering they struggled to raise their affiliation fees.

“It is true; people will judge us by that. They will certainly ask such questions, but we are confident that this was just a temporary setback,’’ the chairman said.

“Now, that the league will start on a later date, we will be able to put our house in order and move forward as a team.”

However, fellow Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services side Whawha are still struggling to raise the fees and have reportedly been given a final deadline today.

Tenax and Whawha failed to meet the three deadlines of January 31, February 21 and March 13.

The last deadline was given during the top-flight league’s recent annual meeting.

Bare yesterday confirmed Tenax’s admission.

“The Premier Soccer League Emergency Committee has resolved to admit Tenax FC as a member of the Premier Soccer League after the club made full payment of the membership, subscription fees and security deposit.

“The club is expected to submit its player registration documents by 31 March 2020 in preparation for the 2020 Castle Lager PSL season,” said Bare.

The dates for the 2020 PSL season will be announced in due course following the freezing of sporting events due to the coronavirus pandemic.