adminChaired by Tererai Magunje with Timothy Sangarwe as secretary and Pepukai Mabundu as a member, the Appeals Committee however, suspended the $5 000 fine imposed for the rest of the season on condition that the club does not commit a similar offence during the season.
The committee said that it cannot be said that the decision by the Premier Soccer League to fixture Motor Action at Gwanzura was unreasonable. Motor Action had therefore no reasonable excuse not to fulfill the fixture.
It said it will not interfere with the decision of the Disciplinary Committee unless the decision can be seen as unreasonable.
The only aspect which the committee agreed to amend was the issue of a fine. The Disciplinary Committee agreed that Motor Action Football Club is not known for unsporting behaviour. They also admitted that they had a grievance. These two factors were therefore mitigatory. There was no evidence placed before the Disciplinary Committee that warranted the fine of $5 000.
“It is our view that the imposed fine was supposed to be wholly suspended for the rest of the season on condition that Motor Action is not convicted of a similar offence. Accordingly the following order is made that the decision of the disciplinary committee finding Motor Action Football Club guilty is confirmed, that the decision to award points to Caps United Football Club be and is hereby confirmed, that a fine of $5 000 is imposed which is wholly suspended for the rest of the season on condition that the club is not convicted of a similar offence,” wrote the Zifa Appeals Committee.
The PSL Disciplinary Committee had found Motor Action guilty of failure to fulfill a fixture on 15 April 2012 at Gwanzura Stadium.
The disciplinary committee also noted that the Eric Rosen owned club behaved in a manner that brought the league or its sponsors into disrepute or endangered the welfare of the league.
Motor Action then lodged an appeal against the decision of the Disciplinary Committee mainly on the grounds that; they had reasonable or lawful excuse not to fulfill the fixture at Gwanzura Stadium.
They argued that the Premier Soccer League had no authority to award three points to Caps United
Football Club before referring the matter to the Disciplinary Committee.
In turn the Premier Soccer League responded and raised the following points:
“That the appeal by Motor Action should be dismissed since they have not paid the fine; that the third addendum to the grounds of appeal should not be considered since it was signed by a Legal Practitioner.
“After considering the Premier League rules and regulations and the Zifa rules and regulations the Appeals Committee was convinced that the failure by Motor Action to pay the fine could not stop the appeals hearing. There is no basis to dismiss the appeal on that alone. The justice of the case also demands that the appeal be dealt with on the merits.
“Secondly on the issue of the addendum to the notice of appeal which was signed by a legal practitioner, the Zifa rules and regulations do not bar legal practitioners from filing papers on behalf of a club. It bars legal practitioners from appearing before the appeals committee representing clubs unless the legal practitioner is a member of the club. In this instance the mere fact that the addendum to the notice of appeal was signed by a legal practitioner does not make the addendum invalid. It is valid and therefore admissible. The addendum shall therefore be admitted,” wrote the Gunje committee.
Turning to the merits of the case, the committee noted that the appellant (Motor Action) had not registered its home ground for the 2012 soccer season with the Premier Soccer League. Technically it had no home ground.
It further noted that the Premier Soccer League then fixtured it to play at Gwanzura Stadium against Caps United even though Motor Action strongly believed that Gwanzura was the de-facto home ground for Caps United.
It was the Zifa Appeals Committee assertion that there was a resolution authorising the Premier Soccer League to award points to the club where another club fails to turn up for a match. However on this point Motor Action hotly contested the wisdom to award points to an opponent where the charged club had denied the charges.
Online Reporter