The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MANICA Diamonds top man, Fortune Binzi, is the first player in the history of the country’s top-flight league in its current format to win the Castle Lager Premiership player of the month for three consecutive months.
Not even the unfounded reports that he only played for 20 minutes in March will steal the gloss from the 24-year-old’s well deserved achievement. When the Premier Soccer League announced that Binzi is the league’s player of the month for March, April and May, some ill-informed keyboard warriors went on the overdrive on social media and some sport online sites, misleading readers that Binzi did not deserve the gong for the month of March because he played for 20 minutes only during that month.
Manica Diamonds played against CAPS United, Triangle and Herentals College FC during the month of March.
In the match against CAPS United, Binzi played for 35 minutes and went on to feature on the Manica Diamonds starting line-up against Triangle before being thrown into the fray in the last 45 minutes of the match against Herentals.
Although the striker was not on target in March, he was part of the team that played all the three matches, one of them in the starting line-up (against Triangle) — a feat that reasonably allows him to be voted as player of the month by those on the voting panel who may feel he deserved the award.
In his contribution to a debate on a WhatsApp group chat after a statement was posted alleging that Binzi only played for 20 minutes in March, a PSL official, Rodwell Thabe, appropriately argued: “The last statement is not true, he did not start the matches, but he played. The coaches, captains and media have made their choices, everyone is expected to vote responsibly and as such if they do or do not, it is unfair to expect the league to intervene in their decisions as long as they lie within the voting regulations
“What is most interesting is that some here have also fallen hook line and sinker for the misinformation being spread by an online publication (name supplied) that he did not play in March.
“It has become the basis of debates by the very same analysts, yet it in itself is not true (never mind the other circumstances). Maybe it is a reflection that we need to research more on what we are fed before making statements or decisions.
“It is difficult to blame the voters when even the analysts seem gullible to believing everything we read.”
Far from the controversy, Binzi, has none, but his coaches, teammates and the heavens to thank for his achievements.
“I have nothing to say, other than giving a big thank you to the Lord, my family, coaches and teammates for this achievement. It will go a long way in motivating me to achieve more,” said the talented Manica Diamonds striker.
