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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Premier Soccer League has started working on the 2016 Castle Lager Premier League fixtures.

Most teams are in the second week of preseason training ahead of the start of the season which could either be mid mid-March or the beginning of April.

“We’ve started working on the fixtures. I wouldn’t know at the moment when we’re going to make them public, but once we’re done, we’ll obviously let the public know,” said PSL competitions manager Elisha Mandireva.

The season kicked off on March 20 in 2015, with then debutants Tsholotsho pulling a shocker, a 1-0 win away win against Harare City.

A total of 23 goals were scored on the first week of the 2015 season, which also saw electricity generators ZPC Kariba extending their dominance over Highlanders. Bosso have never beaten ZPC Kariba since they were promoted into the topflight league in 2014. In the first match last season, ZPC Kariba beat Highlanders 2-0 and this was the first time in 18 years that Bosso lost a season opener.

Four teams have been promoted into the PSL for this year’s campaign, but only three have been confirmed. The promotion of Mutare City Rovers from the Eastern Region is being contested by Masvingo United who finished in second place. Masvingo is alleging that Mutare City Rovers used two players without proper clearance.

Ngezi Platinum won the sole ticket in the Northern Region, Border Strikers will be joining from the Central Region while Bulawayo City secured the Southern Region ticket.

Following a resolution made last year, only two teams will be relegated at the end of the 2016 season, with an equal number being promoted from the four Division One leagues, setting the stage for promotional play-offs among the four regions to come up with the two teams.

There have been suggestions that the authorities need to decide on the venue of the play-offs before the season starts to avoid allegations of favouritism.