Zimpapers Logo

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
IN an endeavour to safeguard the credibility and integrity of topflight football, the Premier Soccer League will hold a two-day workshop for governors and chief executive officers of clubs in Harare on Thursday.

The seminar being held two days before the 2018 Castle Lager PSL season kicks off and seeks to enlighten clubs on the importance of club licensing and requirements.

Governance issues, which entail clubs to be run as business entities with offices manned by fulltime staff is at the top of the agenda.

Last season the governors agreed at the PSL’s annual general meeting that each club must have a general manager or CEO, a fulltime security officer and media person.

PSL spokesperson, Kudzai Bare, described the workshop as unique in the sense that they were including all the league’s participants compared to the past when they held induction seminars for newly promoted sides.

“We will have a club licensing workshop for the governors and the chief executive officers to equip our members with management as well as administrative skills that will help them understand football better. Some of the topics to be covered include media management, security, competition planning and management as well as intellectual property rights.

“The programme also comes at a perfect time in the sense that it will assist our clubs prepare for the entire PSL programme for the year. They will know how to manage competition, understand matters to do with branding and provide direction for the 2018 season. Above all, we will continue to encourage our clubs to implement club licensing so that our league runs professionally,” Bare said.

Zifa spokesman and club licensing manager Xolisani Gwesela said they are still licensing clubs and will finish the exercise tomorrow.

He said club licensing seeks to promote professionalism in football by adhering to five pillars of club licensing, personnel and administrative, financial, infrastructure and legal.

Under personnel and administrative, they check if people hired at the club, for example coaches, possess the right qualifications.

The financial pillar looks at the club’s financial statements for the previous year as well as budgets for the season, while the legal aspect interrogates the structure as per the constitution of the club. The stadia and club offices fall under the infrastructure framework.

“We will soon be concluding the club licensing exercise. Submission of papers by teams has been slow, but they are coming. I’m sure by Wednesday we should be done,” said Gwesela.

Bulawayo giants Highlanders were the first club in Zimbabwe to be certified under the Fifa Club Licensing requirements after getting their licence on February 24 following an inspection by the FIB chaired by Zifa executive committee member Piraishe Mabhena.

Zvishavane-based outfit FC Platinum were the second club to be granted the licence.

According to club licensing requirements, for infrastructure under Category A, stadia must have a control centre; minimum seating capacity of 5 000; first aid and doping room; sanitary facilities; facilities for spectators with special needs and a lease agreement guaranteeing use of the stadium.

Bosso use Barbourfields Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 35 000 and has all the required facilities following work done on the facility ahead of the 2014 African Union Sports Council Region Five Under-20 Youth Games.

Catergory B requires that there be ground rules, signage and directions, media and broadcasting facilities, training facilities as well as demarcated bays for visiting teams.

Category C stipulates that there be floodlights, individual and covered seats.

The FIB condemned four facilities which were targeted for use by PSL teams. Shabanie Mine’s home ground Maglas, topflight returnees Mutare City Rovers’ Sakubva, Ascot, the home of Chapungu as well as newly promoted Nichrut, and ZPC Kariba’s Nyamhunga were condemned.

Stadia that have been given the green light are the National Sports Stadium, Rufaro, Barbourfields, Luveve, Gibbo, Baobab and Mandava.

@ZililoR