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Philip Chiyangwa

Harare Bureau
THE Sports and Recreation Commission have requested Zifa to explain their position after the country’s mother football body came in collision course with the Premier Soccer League last week over the promotion and relegation rule.

Zifa councillors last week ordered the league to discard the resolution from last year’s Annual General Meeting where it was agreed that two teams will be relegated while the winners from the four division one regions will engage in play offs for the two slots.

The councillors voted that PSL revert to the old system where four teams faced the chop at the end of the season with the winners from the regions taking automatic spots in the topflight.

There was an uproar especially from the affected teams that include Chapungu and Mutare City. However, SRC acting Director-General Joseph Muchechetere said he is looking to hold a meeting with Zifa President Philip Chiyangwa after their scheduled indaba with the association’s acting chief executive Joseph Mamutse failed to take place yesterday. Chiyangwa was reported to be out of the country.

“This issue is in the public domain and we are hearing many things from different angles and as sport regulatory board we would want everything to be smooth.

“Unfortunately my colleagues at Zifa weren’t picking my phone. Probably we may have to wait for Chiyangwa himself because we would want to hear from him the policy position of the association regarding this matter.

“It is difficult for the SRC to comment without adequate background information. We need all the facts so that we can apply our mind to that issue before making a comment,” said Muchechetere.

“As you can see there is a conflict already among the stakeholders. As the football leadership, they (Zifa) make the policies. But when things change like this and there is conflict, we would also want to know the circumstances.

“Otherwise there is nothing wrong in the leadership to review their earlier decisions as long as it is in the best interest of the nation. So for now we are saying to Zifa please furnish us with your policy position on this matter,” said Muchechetere.

The resolution to demote two teams was carried last year after PSL argued that relegating four teams, which represent 25 percent of the league, was not in the best interest of the topflight football as it caused instability and lack of continuity in terms of development.

Chiyangwa admitted there were challenges between Zifa and PSL and indicated he will attempt to use his influence to find a peaceful solution to the matter.

“I will have to try, as quickly as possible to find ways of ensuring that the two parties find each other so that we don’t put our football into disrepute,” he told our sister paper The Herald.