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Bhekimpilo Nyoni

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Premier Soccer League’s disciplinary committee has slapped Bulawayo City FC with a $2 500 for using over-age players in their developmental ranks.

The players concerned, Lewis Ncube, Dean Pelius Sibanda and Bothwell Nyathi were also found guilty and have been hit with 12 month bans.

The trio used fraudulent documents which led to them being registered in the development quota, reserved for Under-20 players at the beginning of the year.

City are expected to pay $2,000 by end of this month, with the remaining $500 suspended for the remainder of the 2017 season on condition the club is not convicted of any offence involving dishonesty.

According to a summary of judgments released yesterday, Amakhosi, as City are affectionately known, contravened order 31.2.8 of the PSL rules and regulations, that is knowingly furnishing incorrect information, of whatsoever nature to the PSL.

City are lucky to escape with just a fine as the league’s disciplinary committee had said issues to do with age cheating deserve stiff penalties.

“Clubs must be at the forefront of confronting and eliminating cheating, not to be seen as aiding or abetting through commission or omission. A severe sentence is the most appropriate under these circumstances as such behavior can easily become cancerous,” reads part of the City’s judgment.

For submitting wrong dates of birth on the forms that were then submitted to PSL by City the players were banned from all football activities for 12 months, three months of which have been suspended on condition the players do not within that period commit a similar offence. The players were instructed to each pay a third of the costs of the hearing by December 31, and neither player shall participate in any PSL officially sanctioned match even after serving the ban until they pay their share of the costs.

Punishment passed on Ncube, Sibanda and Nyathi is likely to be welcomed as the sport has become infested with age cheats.

With the PSL seemingly taking no prisoners with regards to age cheating, most youngsters who have been encouraged to alter their ages so that they compete in junior competitions will have second thoughts about using their fake documents.

Bhekimpilo Nyoni, of BN Academy and also the chairman of the Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association (Zisca) applauded the PSL’s decision and challenged Zifa to also come hard on age cheats.

“When the PSL introduced the juniors’ quota, they wanted to give youngsters a chance to play but unscrupulous administrators have defied the spirit of Fair Play by using over-age players under that slot.

“The action taken by PSL’s disciplinary committee showing that they don’t condone age cheating is very good. What Zifa needs to do is to descend on those who influence and corrupt the developmental stages such that we end up having ‘reborn’ youngsters. Even members of the community who know age cheats should come out so that deserving youngsters get opportunities to play and develop,” said Nyoni.

@ZililoR.