As part of their strategy to try and assemble a formidable squad for next season, Venda Football Academy (VFA) will release some of the players who were part of their squad this season. According to the chairman of the club, Mr Itani Munzhelele, the final list of the players whose employment contracts will be extended will be submitted to him on Friday.
Vhanzheli, as he is commonly known, said that the technical team was busy working on the list. He said that he had given the technical team until Friday morning to finalise the list. The decision to acquire the services of more players will be taken after they have received the list of players who will not be part of their squad next season.
Asked about the changes they were intending to make to the technical staff of the team, Mr Munzhelele said that they had not yet taken a decision in that regard. He said that Mr Joel "The Prophet" Masutha was still in charge of the team for now. He further revealed that negotiations were ongoing with Mr Masutha regarding the possibility to extend his stay with the club and that the two parties had not yet found each other.
Mr Munzhelele said that although Mr Masutha's track record at VFA was impressive, that his employment contract with the club would be extended was not a given. VFA were fighting for survival when Masutha took over as the head coach of the team about three months ago. The team's fortunes had changed dramatically after Mr Masutha's appointment to the team's hot seat.
VFA completed their league programme in the 11th position with 38 points. The players are currently on a six-week break to be with their families, and the team will resume their normal training sessions in the last week of June.