The ManicaPost
Mwandibhuya Mutepfa—
THE ZIFA and PSL stand-off on the issue of relegation, promotion and play-offs for the 2016 soccer season is a sad development in the history of Zimbabwean football.The 2016 Premier Soccer League season has come to an end with Caps United Football Club emerging as champions. Well done Makepekepe, well done Lloyd Chitembwe.
After 11 years without winning a league title, the Green Machine has finally been visited by the football gods. This is a deserving early Christmas present for the Caps United Football Club family.
While Caps United are basking in the glory of being crowned league champions, the season ended on a disturbing note with the national football mother body, Zifa and Premier Soccer League locked in a dispute on the issue of relegation, promotion and play-offs. However, PSL has decided to take this issue to the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) in Switzerland.
It is not the decision by PSL to go to CAS that I want to dwell on, but the initial Zifa council resolution of 2015 to relegate two teams instead of four.
The formation of four Division One leagues in our country was because of the need to spread premiership games across the country.
Originally there was Northern and Southern region only, but this set up resulted in PSL teams being concentrated in Harare and Bulawayo.
The birth of Eastern Region and lastly Central Region in 2010 saw premiership games now being played as far as Triangle and Beitbridge as teams from these regions got promoted into the country’s top-flight league.
The request by PSL to relegate two teams instead of four and causing Division One champions to engage in play-offs on the basis that it is not fair to relegate 25 percent of the league teams is also not taking into consideration why the football family at that time decided to divide the country into four football regions.
Relegating four teams and promoting straight four, one each from the regions will ensure that at least premiership football will be fairly distributed.
Play-offs create a lot of pressure on officials, players and supporters of the teams involved, causing a lot of anxiety that will end up with most of these games in controversy.
A straight win for a Division One League champion is always fair in my view.
I am not sure why the regional officials who sit in the Zifa council were enticed to have a buy in to a resolution that would disadvantage their teams irrespective of whether PSL was going to fund the play-offs or not.
It is, however, also important to note that coming up with a resolution to change the set up of relegation and promotion two or three teams before the league comes to an end is inconsistent with fairness and it does not matter whether an issue goes to a vote or not.
If the real bone of contention is that PSL made a commitment to fund the play-offs, then the national association should find ways to enforce compliance by PSL to their original under taking.
Outside this madness, I want to congratulate PSL for being able to manage the league fixtures and finish the games on time, Merry Christmas!
Mwandibhuya Mutepfa is a former Zifa board member responsible for development and also 2007-2008 general manager for Midlands National Youth Games team. He was the director for Arenel NASH Under-17 football tournament last year
