The Sunday Mail
THE choice for the 18 Premier Soccer League clubs looks simple but in football politics, nothing is as it looks.
Trust the gospel of doing things in a way that makes both sense and cents or maintaining a status quo that has the league engaging in tiffs with Zifa, operating from rented offices and dwindling revenue streams?
That is the question the top flight clubs are going to be facing when they convene in Harare to elect a new chairman. Farai Jere has been in the Premier Soccer League trenches longer than his opponent Lovemore Matikinyidze but the Caps United owner is not the one seeking to maintain the status quo. It is Triangle chairman Matikinyidze who is arguing that the top flight’s league emergency management committee, which he was a part of, did such a good job over the last three years that he deserves to be the PSL substantive chairman.
In fact, Matikinyidze, who is said to have the sympathies of the PSL secretariat, has not campaigned much, arguing that the 18 top flight clubs know what he offers.
“My take is the Premier Soccer League is a grouping of 18 professional clubs whose governors will just meet and select the person they think can lead them to the next level.
“We always meet as PSL board of governors and colleagues know who is capable of doing what and who is not capable of doing what. My interest is we want to continue from where we left off when I was part of the PSL Emergency Committee,” said Matikinyidze recently.
Jere, on the other hand, has been busy holding meetings with various stakeholders ,including sponsors and former players. He insists Zimbabwe’s top flight league has to be run like a business and must have assets to show for it.
“Yes I know that the sponsors and the former players do not vote but the thing with being an administrator is that you are servant of all the stakeholders and when they want to hear your gospel, you have to be available,” said Jere.
“The campaigning was done and it’s up to the league governors to make a choice. They have to choose between continuing down a path that has the PSL operating from hand to mouth and embracing a new way of doing things.
“I am saying guys let’s do things in a new way, we cannot have an organization where everyone is a manager and we do not have infrastructure. It’s about time we move in line with international trends.”
Jere added that he is ready to work with the current members of the PSL electorate in the event that he wins today’s polls.
“I am a team player and if any of the employees, including chief executive Kenny Ndebele, wants to be part a team that takes the league to its rightful place, then l am ready to walk hand in hand with him.
“When I talk of auditing the PSL books, it is not a witch hunt but a way of seeking to understand the league, its strengths, weaknesses and the opportunities available,” he said.
Meanwhile, another member of the outgoing PSL emergency committee, Chicken Inn chairman Lifa Ncube is set to be confirmed as the league’s deputy chairman as he is unopposed.
