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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS are likely to hit a brick wall in their quest to have their Chibuku Super Cup final match against Ngezi Platinum Stars played away from Baobab early next month.
The giants yesterday wrote to the Premier Soccer League requesting that the match be played at a neutral venue as they felt Baobab, which is the home of Ngezi Platinum Stars, could give their opponents an unfair home advantage.
The PSL communicated to both clubs, as well as to the other stakeholders, just before last weekend’s semi-finals that Baobab will host the final on December 3.
They explained the decision was reached after consultations with sponsors, Delta Beverages.
But DeMbare, who beat bitter rivals CAPS United 2-0 to play in only their second final of the tournament, expressed reservations and requested a shift of venue through official correspondence to the PSL chief executive officer Kenny Ndebele yesterday.
The club’s executive committee chairman Moses Maunganidze wrote: “Following our qualification to play in the 2023 Chibuku Super Cup final on 3rd December 2023 , Dynamos Football Club hereby bring to your attention the following:
“1. That the 2023 Chibuku Super Cup final match be played at a neutral venue and not Baobab Stadium as previously inadvertently communicated by your office through a memorandum dated October 2023.
“The communication suggests that one of the finalists will enjoy home ground advantage during the match in question and such an arrangement flies in the face of the principle of fair play.
“Fair play guards against possible match manipulation arising out of failure to treat the contesting teams as equal contestants with none of the two teams enjoying home advantage.
“Ngezi Platinum Stars use Baobab Stadium as their home ground and should not be fixtured to host the final of the biggest knock out competition, against Dynamos Football Club.”
The Glamour Boys were yet to get a response from the PSL yesterday. But they would count themselves lucky to get their way, as the rules and regulations governing the knockout tournament are clear on the roles of the PSL in arranging fixtures.
“2.4 The responsibilities of Premier Soccer League Secretariat include amongst other matters;
“2.4.1.1 Supervising general preparations and deciding on the competition format.
“2.4.2 Fixing the dates and venues of the matches.
“2.4.3 Determining the match schedule and kick off times for the matches,” reads part of the regulations.
Under the same guidelines. Clubs are also expected to adhere to the decisions made by the PSL office.
“3.9 On entering the competition, the participating clubs, officials and their players automatically undertake to: i. Observe and comply with the Premier Soccer League Statutes, rules and regulations, directives, circulars, guidelines and decisions as well as national and international laws.”
But DeMbare fear that Baobab may not provide the best environment for the much-anticipated final. Maunganidze feels the stadium has some limitations.
“Baobab Stadium has no capacity to host thousands of fans who are set to watch the final of the biggest knock competition as fans from all the chapters of Dynamos Football Club are set to descend on the match venue.
“Hosting such a big event at a small venue with no seating areas for the majority of fans would either be marred by a stampede before kick off as fans would scramble for convenient seating areas.
“The situation could be compounded by the wet conditions since torrential rains fall around that time. The security risks around having the Chibuku Super Cup final match played at Baobab Stadium can not be downplayed.
“Tradition is that the Football Association Cup is staged at a neutral venue and not venues designated without taking into consideration the concerns raised in our communication .
“Dynamos Football Club, by copy of this letter hereby request your office to seriously take into consideration the issues we raised,” wrote Maunganidze
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