admin
THE Premier Soccer League will have to review its fines for misdemeanors committed by its affiliates who range from players, clubs to administrators. It was indeed shocking news that the league would this year pocket $274,250 in fines from clubs as reported in yesterday’s edition of Chronicle. The figure is four times what Dynamos will receive as prizemoney for winning the Castle Lager championship for 2013. This is a recipe for disaster with a potential to bankrupt clubs.
As league champions Dynamos are due $70 000 on 13 December at the Castle Lager awards night. But they are most likely to take home $4,500 of that amount with the rest going into fines for their conduct during the course of the year. However, the figure could be more than that if the club has been paying some of its fines.
If the Harare giants do not offset their fines before the PSL deposits their prizemoney into their account, it will subtract whatever DeMbare owes and give the rest to the club.
For a club enjoying limited funding from sponsors BancABC and Nyaradzo, the scenario is an open recipe for industrial action. Dynamos have committed themselves to paying the players 40 percent of $70,000 which translates to $28,000.
The year has come to an end, players expect bonuses to spend on holiday with their families, clubs want to use the remainder for administrative purposes and to plan ahead for the forthcoming season.
It is saddening that Dynamos are considering pulling out of the African Champions League because of revenue they have lost through indiscipline.
League runners-up Highlanders who are entitled to $50,000 were charged a total of $24,550 mainly for their fans’ unruly behaviour.
Clubs are charged up to $8,000 for pitch invasion, $3,000 for using undesignated points, $500 for receiving up to five yellow cards in one match, delaying kick off costs $1,000 and the expulsion of a technical member is another $500.
There is a feeling among many that the charges are not compatible with the environment in which the clubs are playing.
For instance, the $8,000 fine for throwing missiles and pitch invasion amounts to 11,42 percent of the championship prizemoney. It is quite a punitive figure affecting the viability of clubs that have poor sponsorship in a league whose funding is a pittance.
When asked by journalists what he thought of the league championship sponsorship in March, Harare City chairman Leslie Gwindi said it was very low. We agree with him that the sponsors need to review their position upward to make participating in the competition worthwhile.
The argument has always been that they are providing a platform for clubs to maximize by looking for other partners. But they are the prime sponsors of the biggest competition in local sport hence they should lead by example and give winners something over $500,000.
That figure would be a fair fraction of what teams spend in a season with some having on average budgets of $650,000.
Delta Beverages are making millions out of their Castle Lager brand and it’s only fair that they plough more into the game.
The PSL fathers must in their wisdom sit down and look at the issue holistically as clubs will crumble.
It has been proven here that clubs do not have control over fans. There is a man who wakes up in Nguboyenja and after drowning several bottles of alcohol decides to while away time at a football match. His idea is to be among a group of people he can identify with more than the soccer game and the club.
That man is hard to control. He is a master of his own destiny and will do whatever he wants to compared to executive and board members or bona fide members with a sense of belonging or duty to the club.
There is no room for hooliganism in life or football. It has to be dealt with severely but punishing already cash-strapped clubs calls for all involved in the game to put their heads together.
Drunkenness is to blame for the hooligan element. So many of the soccer fans spend a fortune on alcohol before games as there are no more friendly matches at stadia. Hours of idleness in the first half of the morning tends to leave some to seek solace in the wise waters waiting for the three o’clock kick off.
Curtain raisers would keep the fans occupied.
The clubs, league and law enforcement agents should find lasting solutions to hooliganism.
Locking up known hooligans before matches and releasing them after sunset on match days could be the other option.
Action on trouble causers has not been as drastic as envisaged leaving many to openly provoke police knowing they will pay a few dollars in fines and be released.
Stiffer penalties on individuals and not clubs should be a considered option otherwise clubs will collapse.
It is about time the local game got its true brand value’s worth and clubs started being viable entities with professional management systems in place.
Online Reporter