Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THE country’s football governing body – ZIFA – is considering constitutional amendments that will prohibit clubs from selling the right to play in the Premier Soccer League immediately after promotion from the second-tier league without having played a single match in the top-flight league, a practice commonly, though erroneously, referred to as the sale of a franchise.
There is a difference between a franchise and a club, given that a franchise refers to the participation rights in a given league that are owned or held by the league authorities, such as the Premier Soccer League or ZIFA Eastern Region, whereas a club is an independent team that operates autonomously.
Technically and in practice, what this means is that a team or club owners have the right to sell their teams, but they do not have the right to sell the franchise.
In the past, ZIFA Eastern Region has seen its league being used as a conduit to the Premier Soccer League by financially strong teams from other areas, after playing in the Eastern Region Division One League, only to eventually either sell the right to play in the Premiership to clubs based elsewhere or simply relocate the club to other regions.
In an interview on the issue, ZIFA Eastern Region chairman, Simba Wisdom, said they are seized with the matter, with the aim of discouraging the sale of franchises by club owners.
“I would like to clarify certain issues pertaining to the franchise. Franchises belong to the league, hence one cannot sell a franchise, but rather sells a club. If a team or teams are promoted on sporting merit, the league or leagues promoting that particular team confirm the promotion through the association. If there are any changes to that effect, the same member is supposed to be advised and decide what to do with the franchise. The difference then comes when a promoted team fulfils its obligations as required by the league they are joining – then they can sell the club, not the franchise, as I earlier indicated that the franchise belongs to the leagues. We are going to sit down as leagues and include such provisions in our statutes so that it becomes very clear. We have since been tasked by ZIFA to look into our statutes and align ourselves as regions,” said the ZIFA Eastern Region chairman.
While some teams have not completely sold their franchises upon promotion into the Premier Soccer League from the Eastern Region Division One, such as the Walter Magaya-owned Yadah, they have simply relocated their home ground outside the region.
Ultimately, it is football talent in the region that suffers, as it is not so easy to make a breakthrough into clubs based elsewhere compared to clubs based in their home areas.
ZIFA eyes franchise shake up, club sales
