Delta Beverages have commended the inclusion of referees, coaches and the Football Union of Zimbabwe (FUZ) in the 2011 Castle Lager Footballer of the Year finalists selection.
Seven coaches out of the 16 Premier Soccer League (PSL) coaches attended the event at Mandel Training Centre in Harare on Saturday.
In the past the selection was only limited to sports writers from different media houses.
Speaking on the sidelines of the function, Delta marketing executive Stanley Muchenje said involving different stakeholders made the whole process more transparent.
“We saw maturity from all those who were involved because the selection was extended to involve coaches, FUZ and the referees, which added objectivity to the whole process.
The selection was well spread with eight teams featuring in the list, a feat which was last achieved in 1995,” he said.
The selected players were Dynamos goalkeeper Washington Arubi and his teammate George Magariro.
FC Platinum provided two players with Tafadzwa Dube and Donald Ngoma coming in while Highlanders weighed in with Rahman Kutsanzira and Graham Ncube.
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Cliff Sekete (Gunners), Allen Gahadzikwa (Motor Action), Nkosana Siwela (Hwange), Abbas Amidu (Black Mambas) and Tapiwa Khumbuyani from Caps United were also selected.
PSL chief executive Kennedy Ndebele said: “It is the first time the selection process has been conducted this way. It turned out to be smooth running as we had a panel of experts. Going forward, this is the best way to select the players,” he said.
Shabanie Mine coach Luke Masomere took a swipe at those coaches who failed to attend the selection.
“They showed they don’t respect the process. I think at times we just have to be professional. Here we have a selection where everything is covered by the sponsors and the coaches fail to turn up when they were invited. It’s not right and I think it’s time we should learn to be professional,” Masomere said.
The seven coaches who attended are Masomere, Adam Ndlovu (Chicken Inn), Misheck Chidzambwa (former Blue Ribbon), Tonderai Marume (Shooting Stars), Nation Dube (Hwange), Brenna Msiska (Kiglon) and Edmore Sibanda (Zimbabwe Saints).
Representative of the Zimbabwe Soccer Referees Association Ngoni Bouyed was also happy with the way the selection was conducted.
“It was a good idea to have referees and coaches in the selection process. Coaches watch players week in week out and have an extra knowledge on how the players perform,” he said.
PSL board member (competitions) Tavengwa Hara added: “Everything went on smoothly because we made our rules and regulations clear from the start. Overall the Premiership season went on very well,” he said.
