THE Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) risks being left with egg on the face following indications that Dynamos president Keni Mubaiwa is set to snub its offer for him to take over as Premier Soccer League (PSL) chairman to replace Peter Dube.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
This comes after Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa’s proclamation that his association’s executive committee had appointed the Dynamos boss to head the country’s top-flight league as the impasse between the local football governing body and its affiliate the PSL continued on Friday.
However, Mubaiwa told Standardsport yesterday that he was yet to receive communication from the local football governing body, saying: “I haven’t received communication from Zifa on that matter. I have been reading about it in newspapers and, therefore, cannot comment at this stage.”
While Mubaiwa could not say whether he would take up the offer, sources told Standardsport that he was likely to snub the Zifa’s offer, which clubs see as a ploy by the association to divide them.
Mubaiwa was last month appointed chairman of the PSL emergency committee, which would superintend over the affairs of the league pending the outcome of the action taken against Dube or election of a new chairman. PSL clubs and Zifa are at loggerheads following October’s annual general meeting which voted to have four teams relegated instead of two with just three rounds of fixtures remaining.
The local football governing body which has been hogging the limelight for its continuous flip-flopping on the matter, also announced on Friday that four teams would be promoted for the 2017 season, with two teams going down.
“The Zifa executive, hereby informs the football fraternity and the nation that two teams will be relegated in the just ended season and four teams will be promoted into the top-flight league for the 2017 season,” the Zifa statement read.
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CAPS United board chairperson Lewis Uriri, who was reinstated last week, was suspended again barely a week after the Zifa board appointed him to be part of the ad-hoc committee which met last weekend to find a lasting solution to the relegation/promotion saga.
Efforts to get a comment from Uriri, who is also PSL emergency committee spokesperson, were fruitless as his mobile phone went unanswered.
Sources, however, told Standardsport that Zifa’s move would leave the PSL with no choice but to stick to its November 19 resolution not to relegate any team, should they fail to reach an agreement with the football governing body.
The PSL clubs made the decision in the wake of Dube’s suspension from his position as PSL chairman.
The clubs resolved to maintain their stance, that only two teams would be relegated with two being promoted.
Since then, the topflight league has approached the Court of Abitration for Sport to intervene and help resolve the dispute with Zifa, who last week insisted that local channels had not been exhausted.
Ironically, Zifa’s declaration on Friday came when a special committee made up of Zifa and PSL representatives were still in discussions with the aim of finding a solution to the impasse, although it failed to break the deadlock.
As the standoff continues, the league’s principal sponsor Delta Beverages last week indicated that they were contemplating not renewing their deal which ends at the end of this year.
Delta marketing director Maxen Karombo expressed concern during the Soccer Star of the Year awards banquet.
“I must say we are very disappointed with what is going on in football at the moment. Two PSL club chairmen have been suspended acrimoniously. There is no substantive chairman for PSL to work with. We don’t even know the relegation status of the league and such issues also affect us as sponsors,” Karombo said.
“We have spent the past six seasons supporting football and increasing the nature and format of our sponsorship. I don’t want to be drawn into conclusions at the moment because honestly, we don’t know what’s gonna happen until there is sanity in football.”
