Vusumuzi Dube
ALL the 18 Premier Soccer League clubs have been licensed by the Zimbabwe Football Association to participate in the 2021/22 season, with nine venues given the green light to be used for PSL matches.
On Wednesday, Zifa said its First Instance Body met on Tuesday and made a decision to grant licenses to the 18 teams.
“The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) would like to inform the football fraternity that the First Instance Body (FIB) of Club Licensing met yesterday (Tuesday) and resolved to license all the 18 Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs who applied for licenses to participate in the 2021-22 league season. The elite men clubs were licensed in line with five (5) criteria areas of Club Licensing which are sporting, personnel and administrative, financial, infrastructure and legal,’’ read the statement from Zifa.
At the same gathering, it was noted that most of the stadiums in the country were in a deplorable state with an appeal made to responsible authorities to attend to these facilities. Only nine stadiums have been temporarily been approved to host PSL matches.
“The meeting also noted that most stadiums in the country were in a derelict state and appealed to Local authorities and the Government to renovate the stadiums in line with Fifa and Caf requirements. Consequently, the following stadiums were provisionally homologated to host PSL matches: -a) Barbourfields, b) Luveve, c) Gibbo, d) Baobab, e) Nyamhunga, f) Ascot, g) Sakubva, h) Mandava, i) National Sports Stadium,’’ said Zifa.
One notable facility that has not been cleared to host PSL matches this season is Rufaro Stadium, which is in a state of neglect. This will see the seven Harare teams forced to use the National Sports Stadium. On matchday week one, three matches are lined up at the NSS on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Online Reporter