adminBruce Chikuni
ZIMBABWE Prisons and Correctional Service sides, Whawha and Tenax, will play Division One football next season.
It’s now almost certain that the two municipal sides – Harare City and Bulawayo City – will also be playing Division One football next year.
Bulawayo City, though, retain an improbable mathematical chance of surviving the chop.
They need to beat Black Rhinos by 11 clear goals and also hope ZPC Kariba lose to Herentals.
Harare City have now been relegated from the top-flight league for the second time in four seasons.
The signs have been there, for everyone to see, that they no longer have the same financial muscle, which enabled them to buy the How Mine franchise in 2018, and sneak back into the top-flight.
It’s even a miracle that they have been fulfilling their assignments, as their season was rocked by regular player revolts.
Whawha were the first out of the gate, in what appeared to be inevitable fate for the Gweru team, since the first round of this campaign.
Their fate was sealed with five games to play before Tenax followed suit with three games to go.
The two sides had some of the most promising names in their squads, but lack of consistency and financial challenges affected them.
Their budget was not enough for them to lure other better players into their fold.
Even keeping those who were on their payroll was a tough exercise.
Financial stability has played a huge factor in the dominance of FC Platinum, who comfortably won the league title, by dominating the second half of the season.
The PSL table currently reflects which teams have the stable financial backing.
The prisons’ sides should, maybe, form one formidable side, instead of sharing already depleted resources.
In Division One, three of the four teams, which won promotion into the PSL, based their campaign on having the best budgets.
Green Fuel, Simba Bhora and Sheasham had the best funding in their leagues.
Hwange have also won promotion but, without sound financial support, they are likely to struggle.
That the coach, Bongani Mafu, who built their foundation for success, even ditched them to take over as assistant coach at Ngezi Platinum, underlines the difference between them and the PSL big boys.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter