The government, through the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), has intervened in the Zifa-Premier Soccer League (PSL) dispute in a bid to bring back sanity to the most popular sport in the country.
by Tawanda Tafirenyika
Sports minister Makhosini Hlongwane yesterday told reporters at a Press conference that his office had directed the SRC to intervene and mediate between Zifa and PSL.
The two administrations have been squabbling over relegation and promotion between the Castle Lager Premiership and the four Zifa Division One leagues.
Amid the friction between Zifa and its affiliate, the mother body suspended, among others, PSL chairperson Peter Dube as well as Caps United board chairperson Lewis Uriri, whose ban was lifted on Sunday.
Hlongwane said the government was concerned with the way Zifa was suspending and reinstating PSL members.
“There has been a spate of suspensions by the football authorities,” he said, “suspensions of those that are smaller by those that are bigger. As government, we feel that the suspensions are just too many and in certain instances they have been reversed without any disciplinary process, which then informs us that those suspensions had not been informed by fact, thought, reason and by rational thought in the first place. We do not understand how certain individuals are removed from suspension, while others are not.”
Hlongwane said government was concerned that football was plunging itself into crisis.
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“We are concerned and they should put their house in order so that they do not hop from one administration error to another. The SRC is engaging the football authorities through mediation and that process has been going on,” he said.
Hlongwane said football structures in the country needed revamping to clearly define roles.
“The ministry observes that football structures in Zimbabwe need urgent attention and it is the role of the football leadership in Zimbabwe to put in place functional structures with clearly defined roles for every role player. We caution against using a ‘my gun is bigger than your gun approach’ in mediating differences at all levels,” he said.
Hlongwane said while there was nothing wrong in the PSL approaching the Court of Arbitration for Sport over its feud with Zifa, the top-flight league administration should have sought remedy with the SRC first.
Zifa and PSL have squabbled over the number of teams to be relegated and promoted at the end of the 2016 season.
Zifa want four teams relegated, while the PSL maintains that only two teams will drop to the second-tier leagues.
The two parties will meet over the issue on Saturday.
