adminTHE biggest conversation in domestic football today is about the Harare Derby which was held on Sunday at the National Sports Stadium.
For a refreshing change, it was a real Derby, with thousands of fans making the pilgrimage to the giant stadium for the showcase battle between CAPS United and Dynamos.
In recent years, this flagship encounter has been a big yawn, with very little fireworks on the pitch while the fans, which used to fill the stadiums to capacity, in the past, largely stayed at home.
The majority of them argued that the magicians, who used to lure them to the stadiums, the stars like Moses Chunga and Stix Mutizwa, were no longer part of the cast of this generation of players who now struggled just to string one or two passes.
That the two clubs have also lost the aura of invincibility, which made them the dominant forces on the domestic front, also added to take away part of the attraction, which used to bring the fans to the stadiums in their thousands.
FC Platinum have become the glamour club of the league after winning the last four championships but the Zvishavane side do not command the same fan support as Dynamos and CAPS United.
Even in their own town, Zvishavane, the champions rank second to their local rivals, Shabanie Mine, when it comes to spectator support.
For a change, on Sunday, we saw thousands of fans flock to the National Sports Stadium for the Harare Derby.
We don’t really know what is the reason behind it but we have seen the number of fans, who are attending the domestic Premiership matches, continue to rise this season.
On Sunday, we saw probably the biggest attendance, for a football match in Harare, when the Harare Derby exploded into life.
Sadly, focus has largely been on the disparity between the actual figures, of the number of fans reported tohave paid to watch the match (18 500) and the number of fans many analysts believe were at the National Sports Stadium.
Former CAPS United star, Alois Bunjira, said he believed that, at least, there were 30 000 fans at the giant stadium.
Some have put it between 35000 and 40 000.
It’s very clear that something wrong is happening at the gates and vultures have found a way to steal from the clubs and why this syndicate is not being destroyed is a major cause for concern.
We don’t understand why the clubs are not taking a stand against what is clearly a robbery of resources which belong to them.
Maybe, we can only assume, the same club officials are also heavily involved in these shenanigans and are benefiting from the chaos.
Why we cannot have electronic ticketing, in this day and era, no one knows.
And, many suspect that all these efforts are being frustrated by the very people who are benefiting from this grand theft.
It’s time we end this madness because our clubs need every cent which they can generate.
Online Reporter