PSL bosses turn party spoilers

Sports Reporter
ZIFA vice-president Omega Sibanda felt like an unwanted guest as FC Platinum were crowned champions at Ascot on Saturday. On a day the Premier Soccer League connived to frustrate the media, with the league’s communications officer Kudzai Bare acting like a woman plucked from hell, Sibanda left before the trophy presentation ceremony.

“I am leaving, no one has bothered to invite me to the trophy presentation ceremony and I cannot force my way into a party that I am not invited to. I came here representing ZIFA because we felt our presence at such a grand occasion was needed. We have to been seen to be supporting our biggest affiliate,” Sibanda told The Herald as he left Ascot.

“However, the way things were handled today leaves a lot to be desired. One is forced to think twice about going to a PSL game when they get such treatment. I had trouble gaining entry into the stadium despite having called the PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele informing him that I would be making the trip from Bulawayo to Gweru for this game. Ndebele assured me everything will be smooth but it was far from it.”

As Sibanda left, members of the media, who had earlier been denied entry into what was supposedly a VIP area and had to cover the match seated among the fans, struggled to get post-match interviews. Bare instructed the marshals not to allow the print journalists onto the pitch.

“I have been instructed not to allow you guys onto the pitch and there will be no negotiations,” said the PSL media officer. A member of the Sports Journalists Association Sikhumbuzo Moyo and The Sunday Mail’s sports editor Makomborero Mutimukulu led the fight for the media.

“This is unacceptable and one gets the feeling that Bare is not acting alone, she has the backing of a higher office,” said Moyo. Mutimukulu said it was about time the media united and deal with such “cabals who believe the media is always looking for free beer and food rather than the story.”

“Such fiendish acts from an organisation that should be media friendly cannot go unchallenged. The media must be allowed to do its job in a conducive environment,” said Mutimukulu.

“There is nothing special about that makeshift VIP area, these journalists were not after the beer and the food, which we can buy for ourselves anywhere, but were after the story, the championship story. On Tuesday, when we meet to select the Soccer Stars of the Year, we will tell the PSL what we couldn’t tell them at a public venue like Ascot. They will certainly hear from us, both in words and in action.”