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The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) has maintained last year’s gate charges for the 2012 premiership season which kicks off in two days’ time, an official has said. PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele yesterday told NewsDay Sport that the gate charges will remain unchanged in a bid to lure more fans to matches. […]

The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) has maintained last year’s gate charges for the 2012 premiership season which kicks off in two days’ time, an official has said.

PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele yesterday told NewsDay Sport that the gate charges will remain unchanged in a bid to lure more fans to matches.

“The minimum charge for a ticket will be $2. The other tickets will be $3, $5 and $10. We are hoping that this year’s league will be more competitive,” he said.

Ndebele said they are looking forward to a great season which will be violence free.

“We do not condone any acts of violence as they are threats to the survival of the league. That is why we decided to have a workshop with coaches because they can also be the cause for abandonment of matches.

“They need to respect the fair play code. We also encouraged them to accept defeat and to win and lose graciously and with dignity,” he said.

“We are encouraging players and officials to respect the referee’s decision. The referee’s decision is final, but referees should also handle the games accordingly. We do not want players to be throwing tantrums at the referees as this can cause fans to react violently.”

Last year, Shabanie Mine, Highlanders and Chicken Inn were among the teams brought before the PSL Disciplinary Committee owing to their fans’ rowdy behaviour.

FC Platinum’s forward Charles Sibanda and Herbert Dick, who was with Chicken Inn, also faced the PSL Disciplinary Committee for their conduct. Ndebele said they are hoping to keep good relations with their sponsors.

“We want to retain our current sponsors and also attract other potential sponsors. We want them to get maximum mileage for sponsoring the league. We want PSL clubs to provide sponsorship agreements as we want to conform to the rules and regulations of our main sponsors,” he said.

Delta Beverages are the PSL league sponsors, while the teams also battled it out in the Mbada Diamonds Cup and BancABC Sup8r competitions. Ndebele also revealed that it will be a prerequisite for coaches to grant the media interviews after the game.

“We are urging the coaches not to shy away from the media. It will be mandatory for coaches to give both print and electronic media interviews after the matches. The media play a very critical role in sending out information. We want to maintain a cordial and professional working relationship with them,” he said.

In Europe coaches are fined for denying media interviews after games.

He also said they are hoping teams will comply with the Zimbabwe Sports Medicine Committee which enforces that teams should have medical doctors.