adminPetros Kausiyo
AFTER years of lagging behind other nations, domestic football is now moving in sync with global trends amid revelations that there are plans to set up a National Dispute Resolution Chamber in the country.
This emerged from the three-day International Football Symposium recently hosted by the Premier Soccer League in Victoria Falls.
The NDRC will help with the smooth governance of the country’s sports.
Zifa and the PSL are expecting the chamber to start functioning in March next year.
PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele, who has been working round the clock to also ensure that top-flight clubs comply with Fifa’s club licensing requirements, revealed that stakeholders had realised the need for the chamber.
ln South Africa, a number of disputes have been resolved by the chamber.
ln addition, it eliminates the bottlenecks encountered locally since both Zifa and the PSL have separate appeal committees to iron out player and club disputes. As a result, it takes long and frustrating periods to settle such cases.
According to the South African Premier Soccer League chairman Irvin Khoza, the introduction of the DRC in 2015 was a massive game changer for them. Ndebele said he is pleased to note the elite clubs’ commitment to lead the way for Zimbabwean teams by adopting a host of measures that will improve local football’s professionalism. The PSL chief executive said some of the key issues that were discussed at the symposium include setting up the dispute resolution chamber to protect the integrity of the game.
The composition of the league, with a view of having a sustainable number of teams, was also discussed. Club licensing from the lower leagues will bridge the gap between teams in the PSL and those in Division One while the promotion of teams in the league to meet the club licensing criteria will also be implemented.
Ndebele is also charmed by Government’s commitment, through the Sport and Recreation Commission. Amendments to the SRC Act seek to support the setting up of the NDRC.
“The sector requires Government to promulgate laws that deal with the formation of such structures. The industry has to be governed by laws that foster youth development, accountability and use of proper infrastructure.
“The South Africa Dispute Resolution system was built from sport cases that had been taken to ordinary courts of law, now all of them are being handled by the chamber.”
Zifa’s communications and competitions manager Xolisani Gwesela chipped in.
“The NDRC is an independent arbitration tribunal established at national level within the framework of the association or as a collective bargaining mechanism. It should have equal representation for both clubs and players’ unions. “lt will handle disputes between players and clubs affiliated to the Zimbabwe Football Association. lt will look into issues regarding employment and contractual stability, training, compensation and solidarity contributions for all clubs. “The establishment of an NDRC in Zimbabwe will offer professional clubs and players a faster, specialised and cheaper mechanism to resolve employment related disputes,’’ said Gwesela.
Ndebele was in Lusaka, Zambia, from Wednesday to Friday as he was attending a Fifa workshop on national dispute resolution. The modalities of setting up the NDRC were discussed. The PSL chief executive was in the company of the league’s IT and marketing manager Rodwell Thabe as well as the Zifa duo of chief executive Joseph Mamutse and Gwesela.
Footballers Union of Zimbabwe chairman Desmond Maringwa and labour consultant Eliah Zvimba also attended.
Meanwhile, the PSL boss is concerned by acts of hooliganism which continue to tarnish the image of the local game. He said the clubs need to tighten security at matches.
“Football has to work with stadia owners, ZRP, and other Government arms to ensure safety and security at match venues,’’ Ndebele said.
Online Reporter