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Lovemore Dube Sports Editor
THE Zimbabwe Football Association has given the Premier Soccer League up to early next year to be done with club licensing which is set to improve professionalism in the administration of the sport. Fifa has recommended that clubs all over the world must meet a certain level of expectation in terms of establishment. It believes that once that is attended to, even the running of the game could improve as clubs would have structures and adequately qualified personnel would be in place to take the club to a higher level.
Zifa spokesman Xolisani Gwesela confirmed yesterday that they had given the country’s elite league up to next year to be done with the club registration process.
It has been established that until recently most clubs in the country including former champions were run from the street, cars or convenient bars.
“We have mandated the Premier Soccer League to comply by 2014. We want all the Premier Soccer League to comply with that and then the process can cascade down to Division One and the other leagues, then our football can be run better. Clubs and leagues will have to adhere to that,” said Gwesela.
He said with club licensing, the Premier Soccer League clubs would be expected to have structures with the association knowing who runs the teams.
They are expected to submit minutes of annual general meetings and financials each year.
Clubs should have offices manned by qualified personnel and coaches ought to be qualified too.
The teams are expected to have a junior development structure which would in the long run produce players for the club and the country. From such administration and licensing, players would easily be traced when they move with the club benefiting.
“With professionalism, there will be competitiveness and football will be more exciting,” said Gwesela.
Kennedy Ndebele, the PSL chief executive officer confirmed yesterday that his constituency was working towards fulfilling those expectations.
He said a number of clubs had already started complying as they now had qualified coaches, offices and junior structures.
Highlanders are known to be the only Zimbabwean club to have had an office since the 1970s when they were at Mkambo near Big Bhawa in Makokoba before moving to Lobengula Street and Sixth Avenue.
They were later to move to their Robert Mugabe Way offices in the 1980s.
Bosso are the only known club with audited financial statements and an annual general meeting where a review of the previous year, plans for the ensuing 12 months and budgets are presented.
“Coaching is almost standard, the clubs have complied by appointing qualified coaches, a number now have offices and junior development which though has a funding challenge. Clubs like Dynamos, Caps, Monomotapa, Highlanders, FC Platinum and Hwange are some of the clubs known to have full time administrators and offices. We will be moving around to check the progress that has been made so far but we hope we will be done by 2014,” said Ndebele, a respected football administrator whose competency has turned the PSL around.
He has also been recognised by Fifa and the Confederation of African Football who now give him assignments to groom administrators in the English speaking world in Africa.
The enforcement of the club licensing should come as a welcome development to the local game. So many times Zifa councillors have come from the clubs some of whom have never displayed any tenets of good corporate governance. As a result it has been difficult for them to steer the Zifa ship.
Online Reporter