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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
THE Premier Soccer League says clubs will need to raise the bar if the league is to survive the counter-attractions from European football, mainly the English Premiership, that has left many fans with divided loyalties.
The league, which resumes this weekend following a prolonged AFCON break, finds itself in direct competition for attention mainly with the English Premiership which is now in top gear.
The domestic Premiership football was put on the back burner just before the festive holidays last year and had an extended break to accommodate the AFCON tournament, which Zimbabwe was part of, in Cameroon.
The games resume this weekend after about two months of inactivity. The 2021 AFCON tournament and the English Premiership have been feeding the fans’ interests all the while and it would need a big act to get the fans back to the local football diet.
The mushrooming sports betting houses and the new gambling phenomena have also given easy access and more attachment to the foreign leagues.
PSL chief executive officer, Kenny Ndebele, admitted domestic football was facing competition from foreign leagues and yesterday said that the counter-attractions were unavoidable.
With most of the big English Premier League games usually starting from 5pm, early kick-off of the domestic games could have been an option so that fans would be able to attend the matches and still have ample time in-between to travel back home from the stadiums to watch the European games on television.
“Unfortunately, it (the counter-attraction) is something that is unavoidable given that the European matches have no definite kick-off times. Sometimes they start at 1:30pm and up until let’s say 8pm games will still be played.
“So we have had to retain our kick-off times (3pm). Of course, we are quite aware of the competing forces. That is why we have had to resume our games after the AFCON tournament because we knew there was going to be that interest in the AFCON games,” said Ndebele.
Local fans have been limited to 30 percent stadium capacity under the country’s Covid-19 protocols. But even before the Covid-19 outbreak, the domestic game had since begun to feel the heat and attendance figures had been dwindling.
This downward trend has been attributed chiefly to the economic environment, the EPL counter-attractions and the falling standards of the domestic game. Fans everywhere in the world would want to get value for their money.
The advent of Covid-19 has also hit the game hard as fans were initially not allowed in the stadiums when the domestic Premiership returned last year with the staging of the Chibuku Super Cup.
The Government, however, has relaxed the measures a bit and a limited number of fully vaccinated fans have been allowed back into the stadium. The PSL have also reduced gate entry charges which had been pegged at US$20 for the cheapest ticket in the early part of the Chibuku Super Cup tournament.
“Currently we are going to be guided by the Government directives. For now, the attendance is limited to 30 percent of the stadium capacity for every game.
“But what is of paramount importance is for clubs to play good and entertaining football. What is encouraging though is that it looks like all the clubs have been busy beefing-up their squads. We obviously look forward to some exciting competition when the Premiership games return.
“It is possible to win fans back but this is a collective effort. The clubs themselves, the football leadership, the media and all the stakeholders have to do their part in this regard.
“The clubs need to engage more with the stakeholders, they need to have a vibrant secretariat with a fully-fledged marketing department.
“That is why we have been emphasising on club licensing, so that we have a professional set-up that is able to attract sponsors and partners,” said Ndebele.
The Premiership marathon had barely begun when the league took a break. Most of the clubs had played three rounds of matches while others had played two.
The expectations are high ahead of the resumption of the games as teams have been busy during the January transfer window to beef-up their stocks.
Giants Dynamos and ambitious Bulawayo Chiefs have been the busiest while Chicken Inn, Highlanders, CAPS United, Harare City, Manica Diamonds and Ngezi Platinum have also opened the cheque book. Dynamos, who signed an exciting sponsorship package from Sakunda Holdings last year, looked as far afield West Africa for reinforcements when they signed Ghanaians Martin Orfori and Emmanuel Paga, and Nigerian Alex Orotomal.
They also brought on board veterans Ralph Kawondera, Evans Katema and exciting youngsters Issah Sadiki and Brendon Mpofu.
Highlanders, who had an indifferent start to the season, have also beefed-up their arsenal by bringing back Rahman Kutsanzira from FC Platinum and striker Stanley Ngala. They also acquired talented goalkeeper Raphael Pitisi to compete with Ariel Sibanda.
FC Platinum, who won the previous three domestic league titles on the trot, have largely been quiet despite losing a number of experienced players.
Online Reporter