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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, , Senior Sports Reporter
FC PLATINUM have expressed their elation following the receipt of a congratulatory letter from Fifa after they clinched the 2018 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title with two games to spare.

Pure Platinum wrote their own piece of history by becoming the first team from outside Harare and Bulawayo to win the local Premiership title in a row.

The platinum miners underlined their growing stature as a force to reckon with when they retained the title last Sunday after beating fellow Zvishavane side Shabanie Mine 1-0.

“FC Platinum are the 2018 champions of Zimbabwe. It gives me pleasure to ascend my warmest congratulations to FC Platinum for their second successive championship title.

“This title is the result of determination of everyone involved and my congratulations go to the players, the coach, the administration, the entire technical and medical staff as well as the fans for this great achievement.

“On behalf of the entire football community, I would like to thank FC Platinum and your association for helping to spread the positive message of football.

“I remain at your disposal and look forward to meeting you soon,’’ reads a letter from Fifa president Gianni Infantino to the Zifa president, Phillip Chiyangwa.

“We are humbled by the letter of congratulations sent to the Zifa president by his Fifa counterpart. As FC Platinum we have always said that we would like to become one of the biggest brands on the African continent and the letter is probably testimony that we are on the right track,” said FC Platinum media officer, Chido Chizondo.

In joining an exclusive club of teams that have managed back-to-back wins in this country, FC Platinum also underlined their growing reputation that could be the next dominant force in Zimbabwean football.

The miners are fast casting a huge shadow on traditional giants of the domestic game in an era of dominance which is likely to be sustained for longer than just two seasons.

FC Platinum will be handed the silverware in their next home game against nearest rivals, Ngezi Platinum Stars, who lost the plot in the latter stages of the campaign.

This is the first time since 2010 that the Castle Lager championship was decided before the last day.

Although it looked like Ngezi would stretch the race to the wire, they fizzled out in the last days.

The platinum miners probably took a wrong decision to fire their coach Tonderai Ndiraya with five games to go.

Having conquered on the domestic scene, Norman Mapeza would now shift focus to the Caf Champions League whose preliminary matches get underway at the end of this month.

The draw for the African sojourn was supposed to be conducted this past Saturday but Caf had to postponed it due to changes in the calendar and its now likely to be done in the next couple of days.