DR Congo clubs pull out of league

The League Organising Committee are facing a potential crisis next season

By Patrice Chitera
BBC Sport, Kinshasa, DR Congo

Three major DR Congo clubs have withdrawn from next year's national league season, due to their inability to meet the high cost of air tickets while travelling to away matches.

The three clubs, TP Mazembe, St Eloi Lupopo and New Soger, are all from the country's second largest city of Lubumbashi.

A fourth side, Cimenterie de Lukala, has also quit the league, potentially throwing next season's competition into crisis.

Cimenterie de Lukala, who are from the western province of Bas-Congo, have pulled out because their sponsor, a cement factory, stopped operating a few weeks ago, following a landslide on its site.

TP Mazembe - who reached this year's African Champions League semi-final - along with St Lupopo and New Soger, announced their withdrawal from the league in a statement signed by the three clubs' chairmen.

Kitenge Kikumba, TP Mazembe's managing director, said they decided to pull out of the league because travel costs were simply too high.

We are told that the League Organising Committee has sponsors but we don't see anything financially as the main producers of the game TP Mazembe managing director Kitenge Kikumba

In much of DR Congo, travelling from one town to another is only possible by air because there are no proper roads linking the country's towns.

"We've come to the conclusion that transport is a nightmare while travelling for league matches," Kitenge Kikumba said.

"The financial returns from match receipts are insufficient to cover our expenses for league matches.

"Even the prize-money that the winners receive after clinching the league title does not account for a third of the expenses that clubs must spend during an entire league season.

"We are told that the League Organising Committee has sponsors but we don't see anything financially as the main producers of the game."

The winner of the DR Congo League receives US$20,000, which is provided by the football federation's sponsor.

The League Organising Committee's officials say they will react to the clubs' withdrawal and give their position next week after they meet to discuss the matter.