CAPS WON’T GET A CENT

Sports Reporter

CAPS United will not receive even a single CENT from the Premier Soccer League for their adventure in the domestic top-flight league this season.

The Green Machine had a poor campaign by their standards and finished at the bottom of the top half of the table in ninth place on 45 points.

They were 21 points behind champions Simba Bhora and they have now spent eight years trying, and failing, to return to the enclosure of champions after winning the title in 2016.

Makepekepe are the last Harare club to win the championship before it started to be dominated by the clubs which are powered by minerals like gold and platinum.

They were just one place behind their biggest rivals Dynamos, who also misfired all season, and will go into the new year searching for their first title in 11 years.

DeMbare finished 20 points behind Simba Bhora and it means the Shamva side would have afforded to forfeit six of the games they won and they would still have finished above the Glamour Boys.

CAPS United were scheduled to receive US$35 000 for finishing in ninth place in the championship race.

But, the Green Machine will not receive even ONE CENT from the league but, instead, they will have to pay about US$5 000 which they owe the league.

Makepekepe’s cocktail of fines, which accrued throughout the season, have accumulated over the course of the year and the club now has fines in excess of US$40 000.

This means that their entire prize money will go towards servicing that debt and CAPS United will have to dig deeper into their pockets to clear the debt.

For some, it’s a demonstration that the league is working, without interference, from their chairman Farai Jere, who is the PSL boss.

In May, CAPS United were fined US$5,000 and ordered to forfeit points in the abandoned Castle Lager Premiership match against FC Platinum at Mandava.

The Green Machine were found guilty of contravening sections of the PSL Rules and Regulations and causing the abandonment of the match after their fans invaded the pitch in protest of a referee’s decision to disallow a goal by their midfielder Ralph Kawondera.

Makepekepe forfeited the game on a 0-3 scoreline.

CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe was also found guilty for the post-match statements in which he criticised the match officials and was fined US$400.

The Green Machine provided two players — Godknows Murwira and Kingsley Mureremba — to the Soccer Stars of the Year calendar.