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Kennedy Ndebele

Petros Kausiyo, Harare Bureau
A RAY of hope filtered through the Premier Soccer League corridors yesterday when the top-flight body held a crucial indaba with principal sponsors Delta Beverages aimed at the extension of their deal with the beverages  manufacturer.

Delta, through their Castle Lager brand, had for the last six years been bankrolling the Premier Soccer League whose winners represent Zimbabwe in the Champions League. The beverages giant also sponsored the only major knockout tournament in domestic football, the Chibuku Super Cup, which earns its winners a ticket to take part in the Confederation Cup.

But a cloud of uncertainty had been hovering over the future of the Premiership’s sponsorship after the expiry of the initial Delta deal on December 31 last year.

Delta had also cast doubt over their continued involvement with the top-flight game following the disturbances that rocked the PSL towards the end of last year, sparked by the boardroom squabbles between Zifa and the league and which led   to the suspension of the top-flight’s chairman Peter  Dube.

The company indicated at the end of last year that they could not discuss a fresh sponsorship deal with a league that was facing a leadership crisis.

But with Zifa and the PSL appearing to have mended bridges and with the association now reviewing their suspension of Dube, a platform has been created for Delta to enter into negotiations with the league.

Although neither party was readily available to give details of yesterday’s meeting in the capital, PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele confirmed that an indaba had indeed taken place.

“The PSL and Delta are currently negotiating the              renewal of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League partnership.

“The two parties are in the process of discussing specific contractual obligations, requirements and expectations,’’ said Ndebele in a brief statement last night.

Delta also sponsor the Castle Lager Soccer Stars awards and the Golden Boot accolade and it was at last year’s awards ceremony that the company painted a gloomy picture on the future of their deal with the PSL as they were clearly unhappy with the developments in the game, which also impacted on their image. PSL and Delta would also have to negotiate for a package that now caters for an expanded league after the number of top-flight teams was increased to 18 following a Zifa assembly resolution to demote two clubs while promoting four from the regions.

With negotiations now back on track and hopes raised high that Delta will extend their romance with the country’s biggest sport, the PSL have tentatively set their fixtures programme to start on April 1.

That date could, however, be altered depending on the nature of the agreement which the PSL and Delta would have thrashed.

It is also not clear how many other competitions the PSL are targeting to have but the league has also been looking at having another 18-team knock-out competition apart from the Chibuku Super Cup.

The League also administer the ZNA Charities Shield which is set to be a four-team season–opening tournament.