Delay in concluding Centralgate issue irks Tripple B

The Beitbridge club paid $7 000 to Zifa three weeks ago with Hardbody also paying the same amount so that their matter could be heard before the Commercial Arbitration Court.
The two clubs are embroiled in a bitter promotion battle.
If their matter with that involving Zifa Northern Region Division One Soccer League clubs DStv Rangers and Harare City is not dealt with by 31 March, the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League will kick off with 14 teams.
Tripple B benefactor Edward Kanyangu claimed to have established that the Commercial Arbitration Court charges $250 per hour and called for the football mother body to justify the $14 000.
“Look here, we have to know which league we will be playing in so that we make necessary preparations. Right now we are preparing in the dark because Zifa has not communicated to us how far they have gone with our case. We paid three weeks ago and up to today we have not received any communication, as they are just silent.
“From what we hear, Zifa paid $5 000 to the arbitration court and they must tell us what happened to the rest of the money. They took $14 000 from Hardbody and us which is a lot of money and we have learnt that it costs $250 per hour’s sitting,” Kanyangu said.
If Kanyangu’s claims are true, then it means that the $14 000 will cater for 56 hours.
Most cases take an average eight hours to be concluded and with three arbitrators, each member of the court could get $2 000 each.
This publication also established that Quelaton and Mpumalanga paid $2 500 each for their case which was heard at the Commercial Arbitration Court in 2009.
Contacted for comment, Zifa communications manager Nicky Dhlamini-Moyo said the association’s chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze had all the details about the Hardbody-Tripple B case.
“What I know is that the matter was taken to the arbitration court and the court was supposed to have sat last weekend. Unfortunately, I don’t have direct contact with the arbitration court to know why they did not sit or any other details about that case.
“The chief executive officer is out of the country and will be back tomorrow,” said Dhlamini-Moyo.
Mashingaidze and Zifa president Cuthbert Dube were in Gabon for the Caf general assembly and also stayed to watch the Zambia-Cote d’Ivoire Afcon final that the former won 8-7 on penalties.