PSL embrace Zifa’s TMS

introduced at the association at the behest of Fifa but warned that more still needs to be done to end perennial ownership wrangles that normally characterise the game.
As part of their turnaround strategies Zifa have set up a fully fledged player registration department that is headed by Timothy Mazhindu who received specialized training in the new Fifa Transfer Matching Systems that are computer-based.
Fifa also recently donated information technology equipment which included computers, printers and servers that will be used by Mazhindu in creating player passports that would contain all the necessary information and playing history for each registered player. PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele said yesterday the developments at Zifa were a very welcome move but warned that that the country could fail to reap the rewards of such technology if some of the problems related to player ownership wrangles are not resolved.
“The system itself should not be a problem and we welcome it. My only worry is the implementation and I hope there won’t be any human errors.
“There are issues like ITCs that were being issued improperly and this will help eliminate that. As long as we can eliminate double registration of players right at the source it will help us a lot,” Ndebele said.
The PSL secretary-general warned that it would be folly for the domestic game to relax and think that the new system at Zifa would automatically mean an end to the player ownership disputes between clubs.
“The registration system will not resolve ownership wrangles but there is need for players to understand the nature of the contracts they sign with clubs. “Clubs should also check and check again on the status of a player before they sign him and they should not give a player a contract only based on his word…there have been a lot of cases of dishonesty from either party”.
Zifa, Ndebele said, would also need to ensure that the Players Status committee is revamped so that it expediently delivers judgments.
“The Player status committee should speedily deal with cases that would have been brought before them and they should also impose stiffer penalties for those that would have been found guilty of double registration”.
Ndebele said it was also imperative that Zifa closely monitors the conducts of player agents as there had been cases of bogus agents who only surface when clubs are about to pay signing on fees and fuel confusion over the status of players.
“Few agents, registered or bogus have their names appearing on players’ contracts and most of them just surface when it comes to the time of payments of signing on fees.
“Going forward I also feel that Zifa should come up with a standard contract that should form the basis of the kind of contract that can be followed in signing players because some club owners are also guilty of causing problems either by failing to honour contracts or even understand their obligations in terms of the contracts they would have entered into.
“For instance a club may enter a three-year contract with a player but it does not necessarily mean that they would have to pay at once the full price of the player, the payments can be spread over the period during which the contract will be running.
“The players, if they do have genuine agents, should also not have any problems understanding that,” Ndebele said.
The problems over player ownership and registration have also been manifest in the lower divisions with the Northern and Central Regions currently being dogged by disputes over the manner in which players were registered. In the Northern Region, champions Harare City ‘s Premiership status has been put on hold until a dispute centred on the status of veteran striker Webster Muronda has been resolved.
Muronda is accused of having signed for Eastern Region side AMC before joining Harare City without terminating his earlier deal.
The former Sporting Lions striker has argued that he had become a free agent by virtue of AMC having allegedly breached the contract he had with them and the matter would now have to be determined in the boardroom following complaints by DStv Rangers.
It has been a similar tale in the Central Region where Hardbody were docked points for allegedly using an improperly registered player. Hardbody’s nearest rivals Tripple B are also being accused of a similar offence and as is he case in the Northern Region, the matter is now awaiting arbitration in the administrative corridors.