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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

HERENTALS and Whawha’s status in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League will be determined in separate cases today and tomorrow.

Herentals are battling to overturn a decision by the PSL to dock them three points for alleged match manipulation while Whawha missed the Febraury 21 deadline to pay the $208 000 affiliation fee.

 The prison side’s fate will be discussed at the PSL annual general meeting in Harare tomorrow and they

 risk being thrown out of the topflight league.

It is the students though that face a mammoth task to escape sanctions meted by the PSL disciplinary committee, which found them guilty of manipulating a league match they won 3-0 against Black Rhinos last year. Herentals were also fined $300 000.

The club appeared before the PSL disciplinary committee on Monday to defend another match fixing case reported by Bulawayo Chiefs.

The Harare club pleaded guilty to taking football matters to court the following day for filing a High Court application last month challenging the guilty verdict for the Rhinos match offence before exhausting “proper” football channels.

Taking football matters to court attracts “heavy sanctions” under Fifa, Zifa and PSL codes.

Fifa article 64 prohibits taking matters to court.

Questions have also been raised about Herentals’ sincerity in donating to football causes, with critics saying it’s a ploy to win sympathy. 

Last month they donated to the national Under-17 girls’ team and pledged to contribute to renovations at Barbourfields Stadium on Tuesday.

Asked if the prolonged Herentals case will affect their programme, the PSL said: “All our plans are on course and the board of governors will determine everything at the AGM on Friday. Zifa are expected to complete Herentals’ appeal on Thursday (today) and a decision by the disciplinary committee on the Bulawayo Chiefs case is expected soon. 

“We heard they pleaded guilty to taking football matters to court on Tuesday and we hope they withdraw the case from court since they now know what they did is wrong. There’s still time to conclude everything because the window closes on March 31 and we hope everything would have been concluded.”  — @ZililoR