Is it Phiri or Mubaiwa?

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE’S top clubs get a chance to define the path they will take for the next four years when they converge at a Harare hotel tomorrow to choose a new Premier Soccer League chairman.The elite clubs would have to choose who between incumbent Twine Phiri and challenger Kenny Mubaiwa will be the league’s boss and who has the capacity to possibly grow it.

Both Phiri and Mubaiwa have somewhat stayed away from the public glare in the run-up to the poll preferring “door-to-door’’ campaigns on the respective clubs instead of playing their cards on the table through the print and electronic media.

But there is no doubting that it promises to be a close contest with clubs having to decide whether to opt for continuity and give Phiri another mandate to lead them or chart new waters under Dynamos chairman Mubaiwa.

Both men oozed confidence on the eve of the elections with Phiri indicating that he had decided to seek re-election to deal with “unfinished business and continue to grow this league and take our football to another level’’.

“I need to consolidate what we have achieved with the current sponsors and to even bring on board more corporate partners. I have a sponsor for a tournament who is just waiting for my re-election so that we introduce a new tournament for all the PSL clubs,’’ Phiri said.

There is also concern, among some clubs, that the delay by the league’s flagship sponsors, Delta Beverages, to announce an extension of their deal, is connected to the elections and, should their preferred candidate lose, the clubs will have to look for a new sponsor.

The CAPS United president also spoke of his concern for the clubs’ viability and also reckoned that the PSL now needed to find an institution that would bankroll referees instead of the home teams having to cater for the match fees.

“I am aware that times are hard even for companies but football is a vehicle through which they can also aggressively market their products and they will realise huge benefits if they come on board and partner us as a league and also through our member clubs.

“Over the last four years we have had sponsors come on board and no doubt we need to preserve those that we already have as well as entice more to come in,’’ Phiri said.

Phiri, credited with ensuring that such partners like SuperSport came on board to broadcast live matches and getting local games to be beamed across the continent, however, admitted that there had been some grey areas during his tenure which he believes he can only address with a fresh mandate.

“Although we have scored more successes in the last four years, it is also true that there have been areas where we have been found wanting and in which we could have done better and these include the need to have better facilities around the country for our clubs.

“When we were spreading the game, we found that we could see some venues and yet we should not be having a PSL club having a home game away from home.

“Referees fees is something that is of huge concern to me which I would want to address soon after this election’’.
Phiri, who believes the league has also benefited from his exposure to such football business forums like Soccerex, also said he would ensure that the PSL’s sub-committee such as the disciplinary “deals with cases expeditiously’’.

Mubaiwa, just like Phiri, was in buoyant mood insisting that he had entered the race to change the face of the top-flight game for the better.

“The day we have been waiting for has come and I urge the club representatives to vote wisely. They have seen what is in the manifesto that we circulated to each of the teams but I would want to reiterate that my decision to contest for this position is not motivated by financial profit or greed but the desire to serve our football.

“I would want to change the face of the league, the sponsors want to be associated with football and we have to help them to help us to take our game to the next level.

“Those that have been there have done their part and there are obviously some ideas that I have which I would want to implement once elected into office on Sunday (tomorrow),’’ Mubaiwa said.

Mubaiwa claimed that he had noticed that the current PSL leadership had not done enough to address the plight of clubs over the last few years.

“My experience at Dynamos has helped to me to notice that those teams that do not have sponsorship were actually even fined for failing to fulfil fixtures when they should have been helped and I would want the league to create a fund that will cushion clubs or find technical partners such as transport companies that will take care f the clubs’ travel.

“We have to establish a vigorous marketing department in the league that caters for such challenges so that we do not have games disrupted by teams failing in to fulfil fixtures.

“In fact our league should be an attractive brand that is able to retain players and if they are to leave for greener pastures, those greener pastures should be to top European leagues,’’ Mubaiwa said.

But whether the clubs opt to hand Phiri a fresh mandate or opt for the Mubaiwa era, what is clear is that the domestic game needs to do more to aggressively market its brand.

The challenges which the national game still faces with its funding were once again put into perspective earlier this week following reports from neighbouring South Africa of a hefty package for that country’s third tier league. The South African Football Association on Monday announced that the Motsepe Foundation would sponsor the Safa Second Division League for the next five years as part of the association’s commitment to focus on youth development.

The league will now be known as the ABC Motsepe League and will carry a R1 million cheque for the winning team of which R200 000 will be used by that winning team for development purposes.

South African business tycoon Patrice Motsepe is bankrolling the league and Precious Moloi-Motsepe and he are the patrons of the Motsepe Foundation.