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Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
PREMIER Soccer League chairman Farai Jere says the league would rather see teams from Harare travel as far as Bulawayo to host opponents than play at sub-standard stadiums.
The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League action is currently on hold due to a biting stadium crisis facing the top-flight league.
With the National Sports Stadium home to eight teams this season, the decision by the venue owners a fortnight ago to accommodate only two matches instead of four per week, caught the PSL unaware and the league abruptly shelved all league matches until July 1.
There are maintenance works currently taking place at the giant facility after which the ground will have to be re-inspected by the ZIFA First Instance Board.
That means Dynamos, CAPS United, Cranborne Bullets, Black Rhinos, Herentals, Yadah, ZPC Kariba and Simba Bhora have to find alternative grounds to play their home games.
Black Rhinos and Simba Bhora have since secured Bata Stadium and Baobab stadiums respectively and will be playing their home games there.
The PSL have been under pressure from stakeholders, including fans, to consider lowering their demands for minimum required standards for a venue to host top-tier games.
But Jere said the PSL are not ready to back-pedal as that would mean taking a step forward and two backwards.
Speaking on the sidelines of a high-level PSL training indaba organised by Zimpapers through their television department ZTN Prime, Jere said standards ought to be upheld.
“Firstly, this training workshop organised by Zimpapers is going to unlock a lot of value. I am very grateful to the Zimpapers Group chairman Tommy Sithole for organising this.
“It’s a game-changer, an endorsement to the brand PSL.
“Football is on a pause and for a worthy cause. It’s for public interest,” said Jere.
“We are not going to lower standards. It’s a risk.
“Once we lower standards you are not doing any favours to yourselves because people will then become used to such bad standards.
“Clubs would have to travel (from Harare) even to Barbourfields for their matches because we need to maintain standards. Once we start tempering with standards, we will be digging our own graves because we will set the wrong precedence.
“There is a huge difference between the lower league and the premier league. We should be seen as premier and we should be seen upholding certain standards which is what we call integrity.
“If we start tempering with those, it will obviously not work.
“I am very happy that there is a lot of progress as far as the renovation of our stadiums is concerned”.
Jere, who is also the CAPS United president and a prospective legislator said the PSL was following up with stadia owners in a bid to speed up renovation works currently underway.
Rufaro, Nyamhunga, Wadzanai, Sakubva and GreenFuel are some of the venues where redevelopment works are being carried out.
“Rufaro Stadium will be back very soon and the National Sports Stadium will also be back after the renovations.
“We are following up on all the stadiums currently under renovation almost on a daily basis,” he said.
“Last week, the FIB visited Sakubva in Mutare. I see ourselves being late maybe by one or two weeks in terms of homologation of the stadiums currently under redevelopment.
“We are going to push that to make sure that whatever is required will be in place.
“Nyamhunga, Rufaro, Sakubva and GreenFuel stadiums will soon be up in terms of redevelopment works taking place there right now”.
Top-flight football is scheduled to return next week although there is a possibility of a one or two-week postponement.
All the clubs have played 12 games so far with Ngezi Platinum who are on 23 points leading the race while Black Rhinos are at the foot of the table with six points to their name.
Online Reporter