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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIFA have called for an end to boardroom bickering with the PSL after a Cold War erupted over the disbursement of the US$1.8 million Covid-19 bailout funds.
The PSL came out guns blazing, after the mother body slashed their share for office administration by half, in a revised schedule.
A further US$66 000, which the league were set to get in January, was wiped off the budget.
Instead, it will be pumped into the lower division referees, including Division Three and Fours.
The disbursement of the US$1.8 million grant has been a huge bone of contention between ZIFA and their various affiliates in the past few weeks.
But, the association’s spokesperson, Xolisani Gwesela, yesterday said the continuous wrangling would only scare away potential sponsors.
“ZIFA believes the days of unnecessary bickering between it, and some of its affiliates, must be over,’’ he said.
“The few, who still harbour fighting, are urged to exercise restraint and seek engagement for the betterment of our football.
“Football is a brand which can only grow if it is protected, and safeguarded, especially by stakeholders.
“It is undeniable veracity that unnecessary real, or perceived fights, will only scare away the would-be-and-much-needed sponsors.
“ZIFA will continue investing its energies on building a united football family and will not tire on this commitment.’’
The PSL board last week prepared a scathing six-page dossier questioning ZIFA’s commitment to the safe return to play after the association slashed, by half, the initial US$20 000 they had allocated to the PSL for administration.
The PSL questioned why ZIFA have now parcelled money to affiliates such as Beach Soccer and Futsal, which have been inactive.
The league also wondered why money was injected into Division Three and Four Leagues which virtually do not exist in most of the provinces.
They even challenged the association to produce the Division Three and Four League tables to show such structures exist.
ZIFA said their decision was made after a lot of consultations.
“The revisions made to the allocations were derived from several recommendations gleaned from extensive consultation with all assembly members, PSL governors included,’’ Gwesela said.
“The administration fund, initially set aside for PSL, was slashed because we also realised that there was need for equitable distribution for administration relief among all affiliates.
“The most important lesson from this exercise is that we need to be proactive, as a football nation, in terms of generating revenue, so that relief funds only come in to help, not to take care of all our financial challenges.’’
The PSL argued that their clubs and players play a key role in Zimbabwean football and deserve special attention.
The 18 clubs were allocated US$100 000 to share among themselves.
“The revised figures show that the Premier Soccer League will receive less funding,’’ the league said.
“The funds will not be enough to restart football competitions.
“The Premier Soccer League will not have funds to run the office and to organise football activities. Clubs and the Premier Soccer League may collapse.
“The Premier Soccer League has in the last six years not benefitted from any FIFA or CAF funding, including FIFA Forward Programmes 2.0 funding.
“Personal or Political considerations may affect proper corporate governance.
“If the Covid-19 funds are meant to restart football, why is the association funding affiliates that have not been organising competitions for many years?”
Gwesela urged clubs to have a relook of their business plan to open up more revenue streams.
“The amount we received from both CAF, and FIFA, is definitely huge, but divided among the intended recipients, we can only get enough to solve some, not all, of our problems,’’ he said.
“It is important for all stakeholders to bear in mind that giving clubs relief funds is only but one of the recommended uses of the funding.
“It is these unexpected situations which should teach us to introspect and seek better ways of accelerating the commercialisation of our game.
“It is only the commercialisation route that can lead to total capacitation, and sustainability of our football, should other unforeseen events disrupt the game in future.
“It’s our responsibility to ensure that our game grows through commercial partnerships.
“External assistance should come while we are seized with own initiatives to keep the game going. Only then will we stop fighting over relief funds again.’’
Online Reporter