Pitch invasions archaic: Hadebe

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sports Journalists Association (Spoja) has called for orderly post match interviews in line with international best practices in the 2016 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season that starts tomorrow afternoon.

Spoja, an association of sports journalists from the Southern Region, wants to do away with “pitch invasions” by sports journalists as they scramble for post match interviews at the end each game.

Chairman of the Spoja normalisation committee Muziwethu Hadebe said all post match interviews would be conducted at designated press rooms at different stadiums starting from tomorrow.

“We have agreed that we should conduct proper press conferences in line with international best practices. We are fortunate that in Bulawayo we have stadiums with press rooms and starting this season, we are not going to be invading pitches after games. It’s not only unprofessional, but archaic,” said Hadebe, who is also a sports broadcaster.

He said in the event of a match being beamed live on television or on radio, preference would be given to them before interviews are conducted in designated press rooms.

“This is not going to be for football games only, but all sporting disciplines. We are professionals and we must do our things in an orderly and organised manner. We call on the PSL to ensure that our idea is embraced,” he said.

PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele, immediately gave the idea a thumbs-up, describing it as long overdue.

“This is a brilliant idea and as PSL we are embracing it. Our clubs shall be informed to cooperate as we move towards professionalism,” said Ndebele.

Coaches have previously struggled to respond to questions from the media as a result of being swamped by non-journalists, some of who will be insulting them. There was also a risk of being robbed as what happened to former Caps United coach Mark Harrison, who was robbed of his cellphone in Harare.