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FC PRISONS, formerly known as Flame Lily, are not going down without a fight in their bid to overturn a decision by the ZIFA Northern Region Division One Soccer League leadership to kick them out of the second-tier football entity.
The Harare side were thrown out of the Division One league, on March 24 this year, for failing to pay the full package of their affiliation fees — just days after they had deposited $8 700 into the league’s coffers.
FC Prisons, who have employed a number of footballers who are now working with the country’s Prisons and Correctional Services, won the right to play in Division One after securing top spot in their Division Two league.
However, the team which finished second in that Division Two league, Golden Eagles, have now been invited to take their place in Division One.
But FC Prisons feel they are being given a raw deal, especially after paying a chunk of their subscription fees and committing themselves to clearing the remaining chunk, within a short period of time.
They wonder why the Division One leadership appeared desperate to kick them out, at a time when football has been on hold throughout the country because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The club also argue that there appear to be a deliberate attempt to push clubs, especially those from the police and the prison services, out of the domestic football system when those teams have been employing hundreds of players and officials who are taking care of scores of families around the country.
Tenax and Whawha, who have links to the Prisons and Correctional Services, were almost denied a place in the PSL after they struggled to pay their affiliation fees.
However, the PSL leaders, after taking into account the number of families directly benefiting from the two clubs, and that football was on a break, chose to throw the teams a lifeline and, in the end, both settled their dues.
FC Prisons feel the Division One leaders should consider such an option, at least to ensure they don’t make a mockery of the Division Two leagues where, finishing top of the table might not get its due rewards.
The Harare club took their case to the ZIFA Appeals Committee but they have now been told, by the Division One leaders, that they should first take their case to the Northern Region Division One disciplinary committee. Club chairman, Tendayi Zulu Chaponda, has since filed an appeal with the league’s disciplinary committee although the set-up appears strength since such cases are not usually brought before disciplinary committees.
“As Football Club Prison Stars, here and thereafter referred to as the plaintiff as represented by Tendayi Chaponda the chairperson, wish to submit an appeal against expulsion of FC Prison Stars from Northern Region Soccer League 2020 soccer season by NRSL management committee, here and thereafter referred to as the respondent, based on the following reasons:
The respondent erred by failing to write to the club to seek the club’s position on its status for the NRSL 2020 soccer season.
The league made assumptions that the club did not have the capacity to honour its obligations simply based on the delayed payment of affiliation fees.
In terms of capacity FC Prison Stars is a club which has 90 percent of its players employed, meaning that it only has to foot bills for travelling and camping of which all these are catered for by the organisation (ZPCS).
Referees fees are to be settled by one of the club’s benefactors. The respondent cannot go ahead and shut the door on the club when in actual fact teams are still registering players as the season is yet to commence.
Further to the above, and most importantly, all the communication from the Northern Region Soccer League were not authentic as they were not signed in any way by the purported originator.
The club received one authentic letter from the NRSL. Given that background, the same cannot be relied on at law.
The authenticity of letters leaves a lot to desire as we have known that any official communication coming from your office is backed by a signature.
According to the NRSL’s constitution, Article 39 on representation and signature, ‘the chairman represents NRSL legally and is an authorised signatory for NRSL.’
If that responsibility is delegated, it would be expected that the one that delegated should also sign the correspondences in order to authenticate them.
One can only wonder why the respected members responsible for the originating correspondences did not find it important to sign the letters.
“FC Prison Stars invested a lot of resources and fought hard for its promotion to the Northern Region Soccer League. That is a fact that shall remain and that hard work, and tremendous effort, cannot be just be ignored.”
Online Reporter