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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
ZIFA have decided to put only 25 referees on the Premier Soccer League panel as they bid to enhance quality and competency in the top-flight starting next season.
The Premiership has been crying aloud over the years as the poor standards of officiating threatened the general standing and reputation of the game.
Ugly scenes have been witnessed in various stadia across the country with agitated and overzealous spectators taking it upon themselves to address poor officiating.
ZIFA and the PSL have been speaking with one voice over the lack of quality in the match officiating ranks although the latter have fined several coaches who have broken the regulations by publicly condemning the referees.
And the ZIFA Referees Committee which was appointed last month have resolved to trim the number of those in the PSL panel from the current 68 to just 25.
There have been concerns over the bulging number of officials on the PSL panel.
The current number means an official can go for three or four weeks without being allocated a match, a situation which has a bearing on their competency as well.
But, that will be a thing of the past with ZIFA Referees Committee Chairperson, Barbara Chikosi, telling The Herald her committee has already started the screening process.
“As the ZIFA Referees Committee, we have resolved to downsize the number of officials who will be doing duty in the Premier Soccer League starting next season.
“The aim is to improve the quality of officiating in the top-flight league as you are aware the standards of refereeing at the moment are not satisfactory.
“We currently have about 69 officials in the PSL panel and if you look at it, they are not getting matches consistently. That means they can have flaws, many of them because they are not in constant practice,” said Chikosi.
“We will cut the number from the current 68 to just 25 to ensure a high level of competency at the top-tier.
“The more the games the officials have the more confident they are in handling situations and they will improve in terms of quality given each and every one of them will be having games every week.
“The situation we have right now is not ideal. You find that these referees can go for four, five weeks without handling games. When they finally get a chance, they will be prone to making mistakes which is what we have been seeing in the league.
“That is why, as the ZIFA Referees Committee, decided to sit down and come up with these measures.”
Chikosi, who is also the Women’s Football boss, said the referees are already being assessed from the matches they are handling right now.
She said even those who are in the lower divisions but who are good enough could also find themselves in the PSL panel.
“We have already started screening them using their performances in the PSL right now. We are also looking at the performances of those in the lower tiers who we can possibly elevate to the PSL panel.
“What we need is competency and quality. So we will use several yardsticks to come up with the cream of the crop who we will hand PSL duties.
“We will look at the referees’ qualifications, general conduct including looking at their track records and those associated with scandals obviously do not qualify. They will have to start afresh, from the lower tier and find their way back into the top through hard work. They should prove that they are good enough.
“We will also conduct some fitness training and tests so that we remain with the best in the PSL panel. We cannot look and fold our hands as standards of officiating continue to affect the standards of the game in the country.”
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