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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

THE Castle Lager Premier Soccer League has increased gate charges by 100 percent, with the cheapest ticket for the rest of the ground now costing $10.

The new gate charges are with effect from this weekend’s games. PSL clubs were notified on Tuesday about the gate charges.

“This serves to advise that gate charges for Premier Soccer League matches have been reviewed with immediate effect. The new gate charges are as follows: Rest of Ground: RTGS$10, VIP: RTGS$20, VVIP: RTGS$50.

“Clubs that wish to maintain the old prices are advised to inform the PSL by Friday, 7 June 2019 to enable proper allocation of match tickets,” wrote the PSL to clubs.

The new charges are meant to cushion clubs that are faced with steep match day related costs, with camping budgets said to have skyrocketed from $4 000 to $14 000.

Yesterday Chronicle Sport reported that Bulawayo giants Highlanders had moved their camping base for home games, with the new accommodation base reportedly taking in five players per room.

Even corporate sponsored clubs like Chicken Inn are failing to cope up with escalating costs, resorting to camping for a single night instead of two nights when playing away.

Club officials that chose to remain anonymous said they had to review their budgets to survive.

“To be honest we no longer afford camping where we used to. It’s also difficult to plan now because service providers are saying we have to pay on the day we’re coming for camp and can’t give us the quotation in advance. Locally, some of the service providers do agree to a deal where we bring our own food, but when you are away they don’t want that kind of environment,” said one club official.

Another club official said they are faced with a dilemma of re-engaging their sponsor to revisit the accommodation issue.

“Look, we agreed with a sponsor say in December that they will pay say $2 000 for camp and now it’s difficult to go back and say things have changed. We understand the economic challenges sponsors are also facing hence we are trying to find how best to address the issue.

“What we are grateful for is that the league has raised charges which we hope will cushion clubs but service providers like Zifa, SRC, local authorities and the police among others, will still take a huge chunk,” said an official.

—  @ZililoR