THE Premier Soccer League (PSL) is battling to finish the season ahead of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) deadline for the registration of players for the continental body’s club competitions next year.
The CAR deadline is November 30, barely a fortnight away. The PSL programme has not been completed and the association is hoping that the league championship is decided before the deadline. The PSL champion represents the country in the African Champions League while the winner of the CBZ FA Cup contests the second-tier Confederation Cup.
Monomotapa, who are favourites to land the PSL title, are left with six matches, while nearest rivals and defending champions Dynamos have eight fixtures to fulfill.
The Zimbabwe Football Association can however still submit the teams to CAF before December 15, but accompanied with a US$500 fine. Â
PSL fixtures secretary Godfrey Japajapa however insisted that the deadline will be met.
 “I don’t see the reason why the nation has to press the panic button as yet because things are under control,” he told IndependentSport.
“This has been happening for the past three years as our league runs from March to November and we have been submitting the names before this date.”
In the event that the league goes to the wire, PSL will certainly miss the deadline. Teams basically have an average of six games to play before the deadline. But Japajapa hoped that would not be the case.
“The FA Cup will be determined before the deadline as the final is to be held next weekend, but as far as the league is concerned, we face a bit of a challenge,” he said. “But our league is usually determined with about two games in hand so we will meet the deadline as always.”
This season Dynamos bungled when they registered excess players for the preliminary phase of the Champions League, which meant they were unable to register new players for the important league phase of the competition.
Meanwhile, Monomotapa’s dream for a league and cup double ended in Mutare yesterday when they were beaten 2-0 by Eastern Lions in an emotional CBZ final semi-final. The original semi was abandoned last Saturday following disturbances before the match involving Monomotapa coach Norman Mapeza and an Eastern Lions supporter.
Eastern Lions will now play Caps United in the final.
By Kudzai Tigere
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