Andrew
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
THE situation remains unclear to that ardent football supporter from Mbare, while those popular stadium vendors continue biting their fingers, awaiting a solid announcement on the resumption of the Premier Soccer League.
Some PSL clubs claim they are still in the dark.
Players have resumed training at their respective clubs hoping for a return to their favourite hunting grounds and yet the proposed cluster format for the start of the 2021 top flight season is still being misinterpreted in some quarters – just three weeks before the tentative commencement date.
It will all be put to bed on Friday, when the PSL hold their annual meeting.
The indaba will set the tone for the much-awaited return of the Premiership, which has been in limbo since March 2020, due to COVID-19 challenges.
Clubs have not participated in football competitions due to restrictions induced by the coronavirus.
A bio-bubble concept that was advocated for in November 2020, suffered a still birth after it became unclear who would fund the expensive format which entailed that football teams would be in camp for the duration of the competition, which was provisionally planned to be over a minimum of 14 days.
As anxiety and uncertainty continues to grip the local football fraternity, The Sunday Mail Sport spoke to PSL chief executive officer, Kennedy Ndebele, whose office has proposed a variation to the bubble concept, which is a cluster competition involving all the 18 top-flight teams placed in four groups and playing a round robin over a period of six to eight weeks.
The top two teams from respective groups will proceed to the quarter-finals, before the semis and the final which will be staged at a venue to be agreed with the sponsors.
The competition kicks off on May 15 at four venues: National Sports, Barbourfields, Mandava and Sakubva.
The matches will be played behind closed doors.
“Let me make it clear, this competition is not the actual league for 2021. The league hasn’t started; we haven’t stated the dates yet for the 2021 Premier Soccer League.
“This will just be a cup competition that will enable us to start football. It’s a route that we feel is best for clubs, since there are no movements,” Ndebele said.
There have been whispers within the PSL’s feeder leagues — the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Leagues — with the leadership there still unclear on whether there will be relegation and promotion of teams this year.
“There will be a proper league at some point. First we have to convince government that we can do it, then we move to the next phase.
“After the cup competition, if the situation doesn’t improve we soldier on but we will have learnt some lessons from this knockout competition.
“The ideal situation for us, given that most of our clubs rely on gate takings, would be to resume the proper league with supporters,” said the veteran administrator.
Despite the continued silence from the top-flight’s traditional sponsors Delta Beverages, Ndebele is upbeat all will be well when the season eventually starts.
“We have engaged all our key stakeholders, traditional and non-traditional. The announcement will be made in due course.
“We are very confident that by the start of the season we will have come up with a sound package for the league,” said Ndebele.
The knockout competition will have four groups. Group One, which has six teams CAPS United, Dynamos, Harare City, Herentals, Yadah and ZPC Kariba, will use the National Sports Stadium in Harare.
Group Two comprising of Bulawayo Chiefs, Bulawayo City, Chicken Inn and Highlanders will be at Barbourfields in Bulawayo.
Black Rhinos, Cranborne Bullets, Manica Diamonds and Tenax make up Group Four and will use Sakubva in Mutare.
Group Four has FC Platinum, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Triangle and Whawha. They will use Mandava in Zvishavane.
“We are ready to start and all the 18 clubs are kept abreast of what’s going on,” Ndebele emphasised.
“We have also written to stadium owners applying for low rates and in some instances no charges. All stadiums are fit to host the matches.
“Mutare City are working on final touches at Sakubva. Mandava, BF (Barbourfields) and the National Sports are ready.”
The matches are expected to be screened live on various media platforms.
“Engagement with TV stations is still ongoing and we are hoping to have the games screened. We have also spoken to a number of radio stations both national and regional,” Ndebele said. However, there has been no assurance from ZIFA on the US$100 000 that was meant to fund the testing and other COVID-19 requirements, but all the PSL clubs have tested their players. Clubs have also embraced the on-going vaccination campaign.
“Clubs and their sponsors funded the tests as we received nothing from ZIFA from COVID-19 relief funds,” revealed Ndebele.
PSL clubs are now into their third week of training but they are still barred from playing friendly matches, as part of the COVID-19 protocols.
“No friendly matches this weekend and next, until we sort out compliance issues.
“We are recruiting voluntary compliance officers who will ensure that all the protocols like sanitisation of stadiums and training venues is done properly,’’ Ndebele said.
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