PAY-PER-VIEW service provider Supersport personnel are already in Zvishavane setting up equipment for the live beaming of the NetOne Charity Shield football extravaganza to be staged at Mandava Stadium tomorrow and Sunday.
REPORT BY FORTUNE MBELE
The Zvishavane Town Council has agreed to decrease stadium levies from the usual 20% to 7,5%.
Supersport entered a deal with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) last year and some of the league games were broadcast live on a test run basis. This year, they start with the NetOne Charity Shield tournament.
PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele yesterday confirmed that the South African giant television broadcaster technical staff is already in Zvishavane where two semi-final matches will be played tomorrow and the final on Sunday at Mandava Stadium.
“The Supersport personnel are already in Zvishavane for the match will be beamed live. The first semi-final match will be played at 1pm and the second will be played at 3:30pm,” Ndebele said.
The first semi-final will pit Chicken Inn and Monomotapa while the second features Zvishavane-based FC Platinum and Caps United.
Ndebele said the PSL was grateful to Zvishavane Town Council who have slashed their fees for the use of the stadium.
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“The town council has said they will be charging us 7,5% for the use of Mandava and, as the PSL, we very much appreciate that gesture as council has also shown that they appreciate the game of football in the town,” Ndebele said.
“An open Mandava has been provided by the town council, meaning that it will be free from touchline advertising and the stadium will virtually belong to the tournament sponsors NetOne.”
A number of activities are lined up for Sunday before the final that will include performances by some of popular musicians in the country.
This year NetOne Charity Shield took a new format which involved football fans voting for the teams they wanted to participate in the tournament.
All the 16 teams in the PSL were eligible for the tournament, but Monomotapa came out tops with 20 825 votes from the NetOne sms voting process, followed by Caps United who picked up 16 013.
Chicken Inn were in third place with 15 558 votes, while FC Platinum obtained 11 585 votes to have four teams qualify for the semi-finals. The country’s two clubs with the largest following, Dynamos and Highlanders, who got 10 275 and 8 080 respectively, were elbowed out.
