Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
FULL-TIME football match officials have been hit hard by the postponement of football activities in the country due to the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives globally with Zimbabwe recording a single calamity to date.
Match officials in the country do no not have a fixed salary as they are paid per match. Most match officials in the country are employed elsewhere but for those who are full-time match officials, the postponement of games is a huge financial knock.
According to the new fee structure a PSL centre referee gets $1 500 while his assistants get $1 200 per match. For Division One the centre referee gets $ 300 with the assistants taking home $250.
“As a referee obviously I am affected we had already begun preparations for the next season but now we have to wait for some months.
“Some of us make a living out of match officiating so this puts us in a tight place,” said one official.
Zifa referees committee chairman Brighton Malandule said:
“The work our referees in the country are doing is more or less community service.
“We do not have a fixed salary for the referees which is why we do not have full time referees.
“Most of our referees are employed somewhere else. However, some of them do not have a job outside match officiating which is a challenge.
“If there are no games then they do not have a source of income. Our officials need to buy uniforms, eat well and train well.
“These are the issues that need to be addressed. You take a look at our neighbours South Africa, Safa has a fixed salary for their officials and the officials also get paid handling a match.”
The local Castle Lager 2020 Premier Soccer League was initially expected to roar into life last weekend before President Mnangagwa announced a 60-day ban on all public gatherings including sporting events which culminated in National Sports Associations, Zifa included calling off their activities.
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter