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Harare Bureau
THE Premier Soccer League has been thrown into disarray following a Zifa Assembly resolution passed on Saturday evening that four teams will be promoted and demoted at the end of this season.

Two rounds of league matches are left and since the season began every club was officially informed that this year only two teams would be relegated.

This season, the PSL was supposed to relegate two teams and welcome a similar number of teams from the four regional first divisions.

And this was after Zifa Assembly on July 25 last year resolved that they will promote two and demote the same number of teams after the 2016 season with PSL funding the play offs.

The play offs were supposed to be for the four teams that would have won the championship in each region namely Southern, Central, Northern and Eastern.

The resolution was roundly welcomed as it has always been a concern with a Fifa development officer who once came here saying it was untenable that at the end of each season a quarter of the league was being shipped off to the lower division.

But before the new resolution had come into effect, the Zifa Assembly, which met for its annual general meeting at Rainbow Towers, brew a shocker when they moved a motion to reverse last year’s resolution.

After a lot of haggling and disagreement during the indaba, the matter was finally decided by the ballot.

Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa was reported to have been against the idea to reverse the resolution and stood in the PSL’s corner, even giving the PSL chairperson Peter Dube a platform to defend his constituency.

However, Dube is said to have infuriated councillors when he said the PSL was not in a position to assume the costs of the national playoffs by itself as it relies on sponsorship from other companies.

Then 16 councillors, who are clearly all the PSL club representatives, voted for the idea to have two teams relegated.

Unfortunately their vote could not carry the day as 24 councillors voted against the idea to relegate two teams but to revert to last year’s set up.
13 councillors abstained from the voting process.

While five councillors were absent from the indaba, this did not affect the day’s proceedings making the resolution binding with the Zifa Assembly adopting it.

Yesterday, Chiyangwa could not be reached for comment while the PSL chairman Dube said he cannot comment on a Zifa meeting.

“At the moment I can only say the AGM took place for the whole assembly. The best people to give you a comment are Zifa because it was their meeting and we will be disrespecting our system if we appear to want to comment before them,” he said.

And when he was further told that the meeting’s decision affects his constituency, Dube said:

“Like with every meeting that we have had at the Assembly, we go back as PSL. We are going to collectively look at what transpired at that meeting”.

According to some councillors who were part of the meeting but requested anonymity, the sticking point was the logistics of the proposed play offs.

“When the resolution was passed last year by the Zifa Assembly, it was agreed then that the PSL was going to sponsor the play offs, that was part of the full resolution.

“Then it was also resolved that there would be subsequent meetings between Zifa and the PSL to facilitate the changes. But this did not happen only for a letter to emerge from the PSL before the Assembly saying they will not finance the play offs.

“This made the councillors decide to revert to what has always been the norm of relegating four teams.

“It was put to vote,” the councillor said.

Another councillor said the majority of the councillors were never in support of the idea to relegate two teams from the start, but only agreed so that they could go to bed with the PSL last year and together they could remove Cuthbert Dube from office who was now the common enemy then.

“Last year a section of councillors badly wanted to remove Dube and wanted the PSL support to be on their side as well so the PSL, in return, gave a condition that the councillors should also support their motion at the assembly to relegate two teams.

“Back then people were so obsessed with removing Dube from office so they agreed to the condition but deep down in their hearts, they never wanted the idea of relegating two teams because councillors from the four division one regions want what is in the best interest of the clubs they represent and that is an automatic ticket to the Premiership.

“But get me correct, not all the councillors that were in that meeting are happy about this decision, some felt that at least for this season everyone should agree that two teams are relegated so that they don’t affect the PSL clubs which played the whole year under this rule and then next season revert to four teams.

“Others are of the school of thought that since we are in this mess already, two teams are relegated then the PSL compromise on their part and accommodate 18 teams next season with the Zifa Assembly ratifying that and then after one season switch back to 16 teams and go ahead with relegating four teams every season,” said the councillor.

This development will present a lot of drama in the league meaning Tsholotsho and Mutare City, who have been fighting relegation, become the latest casualties and joining Border Strikers who have already been relegated.

Chapungu, Triangle, Hwange and How Mine become overnight relegation candidates with the fourth relegation slot hovering over them.

Chapungu, who lost to FC Platinum on Saturday, are on 31 points and need to win their last two matches against Hwange and Caps United and hope their rivals’ results will work in their favour.

Triangle, Hwange and How Mine are all on 35 points and need three points each to ensure they are completely safe from relegation worries.

This also means Zifa Northern Region Division One club Black Rhinos, who were crowned champions on Saturday after beating Kariba Waves 2-0 at One Commando with two games to spare, have been promoted into the Premier Soccer League.

They will become the first team to be promoted with other regions still battling it out.