admin“I am happy with the performance of the referees despite an isolated case where a referee was at the centre of controversy. In my opinion I think the referees did very well this season although they cannot satisfy all the people all the time. Remember last year we had to hire match officials from neighbouring countries to handle the Mbada Cup matches,” said Gumede.
He expressed satisfaction with the just ended Castle Lager Premier Soccer League which saw Harare giants Dynamos snatching the title on the last day when they pipped Highlanders on goal difference after the two teams were tied on 69 points each.
Gumede said he was happy with the smooth flow of the 2012 Premiership season which went according to plan.
The 2012 Premiership season ended at the weekend with dramatic matches involving title contenders and the relegation threatened teams.
“We are happy with how things moved during the 2012 soccer calendar because of the excitement the league generated. It was an exciting season and as Zifa we are happy although we had a few hitches here and there,” said Gumede.
He said what added to the excitement was the fact that the destiny of the title was decided on the very last day and this also included the fate of those teams which were fighting relegation.
“’As you can see the Premiership title was won on the last day and this generated a lot of excitement. The owners of the game who are the football fans got good value for their money. Going forward I can say there is always room for improvement and football will be the winner. For the entire Zifa family I think it was a job well done,” said Gumede.
The Zifa vice-president also thanked Castle Lager the sponsors of the league. He expressed gratitude saying he hopes Castle Lager will continue doing the good work by developing the growth of football. Castle Lager chipped in at a time when the league was struggling to secure sponsors and boosted the morale of teams.
Commenting on the Asiagate, Gumede said it almost disrupted the football programme. The Asiagate saga dragged on and on and resulted in the imposition of long and life bans on certain players, officials and journalists. The alleged mastermind of this scandal Henrietta Rushwaya is still fighting her battles in court.
Gumede said the only debacle that tainted the league was the Dynamos-Hwange saga which happened in May during a league match pitting the two teams but was only resolved last Friday. Hwange played that match without coaches Nation Dube and Mebelo Njekwa after they were manhandled by Dynamos marshals just before kick off. The Commercial Arbitration Centre dismissed the Hwange appeal.
The Muchadeyi Masunda-led committee ruled the matter in favour of Dynamos after keeping the football fans in suspense for a very long time. The ruling of the arbitration centre had a big bearing on the destiny of the league championship.
Kenny Ndebele, the PSL chief executive officer, and board member responsible for competitions Tawengwa Hara ensured, the programme ran smoothly. It finished two weeks before the Caf club competitions deadline.
Online Reporter