Ndebele, Hara praised

Harare City chairman Leslie Gwindi who was in Bulawayo on Monday praised Hara for his smooth fixtures. He was also full of praise for Ndebele whom he said was key on the way forward for the PSL as he was a man who understood what good corporate governance in football means.

“Hara ran the fixtures well and other competitions dovetailed into a programme that has finished in good time for Zifa to send representatives’ names to Caf on time.

“Ndebele is a good administrator, football needs him and the PSL will be bankrupt on skills if he leaves the organisation. His stay should not be debated as results are there for all to see,” said Gwindi.

Chicken Inn boss Lifa Ncube also said the 2012 season did run smoothly. He said the programme had ended within the projected time.

“The competitions desk and the chief executive and his secretariat ran the show smoothly. They did very well, we are happy that the programme was within schedule,” said Ncube.

He said Ndebele whose term as chief executive officer ends on 31 December deserved another contract.

Ndebele is believed by many as the reason why the PSL has enjoyed stability and is still a brand capable of even getting more sponsorships.

Tadson Zhou, the FC Platinum chairman, said he was happy with the way the programme was run.

“It was a good job by competitions and the PSL secretariat. Well you cannot please everyone, there could have been two clubs that wanted things to be done their way but overall we are happy with the turn of things. In the little time I have worked with Ndebele I have found him good to work with and he is knowledgeable,” said Zhou, who was recently co-opted to the PSL management committee where he holds the finance portfolio.

Hwange Football Club’s Burzil Dube praised Hara’s portfolio for a near flawless performance.

“The fixturing was good, everything ran smoothly. The chief executive officer had another good season, he was professional in his approach to football issues and added value to the PSL. I wish he will stay on as chief executive officer and add value to football, the PSL needs a man of his calibre,” said Dube.

Twine Phiri, the Caps United owner and PSL president, was impressed with the way Hara ran the fixtures and competitions. He said it never was an easy thing to fit in other programmes but somehow the Castle Lager programme ran smoothly.

“The just-ended season was tough and very competitive, we had two teams Dynamos and Highlanders in a fierce duel. I am very happy with the way things turned out despite challenges here and there,” said Phiri.

In what could be a vote of confidence in his chief executive officer, Phiri said: “I am happy with the way he has done things, we have worked well and I wish the PSL all the success and for us to achieve we have to work hard together with our clubs and stakeholders.”

Phiri could not be drawn into commenting on the future of Ndebele.

A three-man committee that has Phiri, Eric Rosen and PSL vice-chairman Joseph Zulu was asked to look at the chief executive officer’s issue.

“At the moment we are all happy with what Ndebele has done. We are still celebrating a season that ran well within our projections.”

The committee according to sources was meant to advertise for the post and conduct interviews. However a majority of the clubs want Ndebele to be given another term.

“We do not want to promote mediocrity and selfish agendas by individuals. In any case only one PSL club did not want Ndebele and it has already been relegated. It would be an insult to him to be interviewed again, he has proven himself,” said a club source who did not want to be identified.

At the beginning of the year PSL interviewed a Mgomezulu from the Swaziland Football Federation. He is a Caf administration instructor like Ndebele. Clubs did not buy into that as they felt he was coming from a constituency barely the size of our regional leagues.

Peter Dube, the Highlanders chairman, was also happy with the way Hara’s portfolio and the secretariat had run the league. He however said there was room for improvement.

“You can’t always get everything right. There is room for improvement though but we felt as a club they did a good job in running the league smoothly,” said Dube.

Ndebele has refused to speak about his future. He is largely credited with the smooth running of the league whose board of governors has been accused of not appreciating that they are part-timers and hence cannot run the league on a day-to-day basis.

Under Ndebele the league has been run more transparently and professionally.

In an interview Hara said they will continue to strive to have programmes running within the agreed calendar. Communication between the secretariat and clubs, he said, was key to a flawless programme that allows Zifa to register African club tournament representatives on time.