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I am sure when he said it, he was referring to a whole lot of different aspects of the game, from the fans, the coaches right up to the teams themselves, including administrators of the teams and the various leagues across the globe.
He never said the game is only beautiful in one particular part of the world or country, no, and that was because he knew that if it was beautiful in Brazil, it was beautiful in the United States of America, it was beautiful in England and indeed it was beautiful in our beloved Zimbabwe.
While I totally agree that the sport has always been beautiful in this country, although of course with a few stains here and there, especially the shamed Asiagate and Centralgate issues, it makes a very sad observation to see the amount of indiscipline and lack of professionalism bedevilling our top league, the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, with barely a quarter of our games played.
Four clubs have already been issued with summons to appear before the League’s disciplinary committee and what makes this whole nonsense more nonsensical is that all the cases are just but administrative arrogance or big headedness.
Motor Action, Caps United, Dynamos and Quelaton have all been found on the wrong side of the law for violating various PSL and football statutes.
It further annoys one when considering that Motor Action are owned by the PSL management committee board member finance, Eric Rosen, while the League’s president Twine Phiri owns Caps United. DeMbare, being our perennial ambassadors and the most successful club domestically and continentally, should lead by example.
For their case, Quelaton cried ignorance!
Motor Action have two cases, failing to fulfil their fixture against Caps United and playing without a sponsors’ logo on their jerseys.
We understand they did that on four different occasions and one really wonders what exactly they will be trying to achieve or who they want to fix, after all those tags are put there for free. That is total arrogance!
Makepekepe had their match against Chicken Inn abandoned after supporters threw stones with only a few minutes remaining, their second incident inside two years, while Dynamos’ marshals viciously attacked hapless Hwange coaches, Nation Dube and Mebelo Njekwa.
Quelaton used a suspended player, in the process violating globally known football statutes but they claimed ignorance.
It is these cases that has made me call upon the league’s supremo Phiri to stand up and say no to all this madness because at the rate at which it is going, we are likely to have a case of indiscipline every week and that on its own chews the league’s coffers in sitting allowances for the disciplinary committee members.
Yes, Kennedy Ndebele, the PSL chief executive officer also has the powers but if some of the habitual offenders happen to be his bosses, honestly, no matter how hard he will try to bring sanity, which by the way he has done with utmost professionalism, sometimes his hands could be tied.
Phiri should take firm action to make sure that this whole nonsense stops forthwith and he can start by making sure that cases are dealt with timeously not according to who would have crossed the line.
We were happy when he declared after Motor Action had played against Quelaton at Luveve Stadium without a sponsor’s logo that they will be dealt with accordingly, regardless of who owns the club.
Interestingly, Quelaton have already had points deducted for their offence during the same match while Chicken Inn have not yet been given their three points for the abandoned Caps United match which happened in Week Two of the season. Motor Action too are yet to face the disciplinary committee.
Now Mr president, let us see action, not hard talk because our league will soon turn into a circus and I certainly don’t think that the sponsors, Delta Beverages, through their Castle Lager brand, will want to be associated with a league of disciplinary hearings. They sponsor football not disciplinary hearings, for goodness sake.
It will be prudent for the league to make sure that after killing the snake in the kitchen, they then close all the holes that the snake could have used to gain access.
The PSL document titled “Preparations for 2012 Season”, states that:
“Members of the Assembly will recall that we met at Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare from 30 November 2009 to 5 December 2009 and undertook to take first steps towards professional football.
“We agreed to ensure that by 2013 our League and clubs will be professional outfits. While efforts have been made to turn professional, there is a need to trace our steps and start to implement the resolutions agreed in 2009.”
So why are we not moving towards professionalism, because to me failure to do that is also an act of indiscipline on the part of the League and obviously the clubs.
There are a number of things which the league is not doing right like delaying to inform the clubs on suspended players, especially those that would have accumulated three yellow cards.
Once again Mr President, say no to this. Liaise with your counterparts at Zifa as the custodians of referees to make sure they forward their reports to the PSL offices on time.
As a parting note and in reference to the Motor Action issue of playing without the sponsor’s logo on their jerseys, the PSL resolution number eight on Review of Fines by 100 percent, point number two, word for word says;
Offence: Using a kit without name of a player or sponsors logo not properly secured as per standard Fifa statutes.
Action to be taken: The player or players will not be allowed to play.
Have a lovely sporting weekend.
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Online Reporter