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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
RESUMPTION of domestic football needs sober thinking which means the custodians of the game Zifa and the Premier Soccer League have to find each other for the good of the game.

When Covid-19 first struck last year, paralysing global football, top European leagues which draw the best footballers felt the hit, but were quick to find solutions to survive and co-exist with the pandemic.

Plans detailing how the leagues would resume their programmes were rolled out, with emphasis on how football training and matches would be carried out safely during the pandemic.

This required strict hygienic measures, including regular PCR testing.

Creation of the safe bio-bubble environment, which required players, technical and support staff to go into camp after testing negative for the virus, was done.

Those that retained positive results were quarantined and only joined camp after being retested and found to be Covid free.

According to lawinsport.com, Covid-19 disruption caused a loss of approximately US$14 billion to the global football industry by May 2020, and that figure has significantly risen.

The absence of fans in stadia has also hit teams hard resulting in a significant drop in sales of club merchandise, which generates huge revenue for clubs.

While top leagues and others surrounding Zimbabwe have restarted their programmes, the local game is still in limbo.

A snap survey on how other countries have been able to resume football activities shows that emphasis was placed on the top two tiers, the Premiership and First Divisions, to cater for relegation and promotion.

Longer term planning looking at cost control measures, extensive health and safety standards, the return of fans to stadia, commencement of women’s football, other lower leagues and international competitions were also made.

However, as with all realms of society, approaches have varied among leagues and jurisdictions which were called to strike a delicate balance between public health and financial benefits.

Major strides were taken to get the football flagships back on the pitch, something that Zimbabwe’s football honchos have failed, even after getting a kickstart in the region of US$1,8 million from Fifa.

How the Fifa money was used or disbursed drew negative publicity for Zifa and it remains to be seen if the release of the money last month will influence the resumption of the local game.

The delay in restarting the game is already having an impact on clubs, whose meagre resources have been drained by paying non-active players for more than a year.

It’s worth noting though that the PSL is taking an proactive approach towards ensuring the restart of the game but its fear is that Zifa might throw spanner in the works as relations between the two organisations have been sour for years.

Just last year, Zifa was baying for PSL chief executive officer Kenny Ndebele’s head, accusing him of undermining the association’s authority by writing to the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) and the World Leagues Forum on the state of local football.

Now Ndebele has prepared a document on the proposed restart of the game at PSL level, and after the failed restart last year, he is calling for a feasible plan of action to replace the expensive bio-bubble concept which was used as a dress rehearsal for restarting the league.

Government, through the SRC, approved the bio-bubble concept, which would have seen teams participating in a two-week tournament last December, culminating in the resumption of full action this month.

In the PSL draft sent to its board of governors, Ndebele notes that the bio-bubble is expensive and suggests that clubs play in a round-robin format.

“The Premier Soccer League consists of 18 football clubs dotted across the country. To restart football, a competition has to be introduced where intercity provisional travelling is minimised for purposes of reducing the spread of Covid-19 and cutting costs.

“The PSL clubs/teams will be placed into four groups. The teams shall play a round-robin competition over a period of 4/5 weeks. Top teams from respective groups to proceed to the semi-finals. The winners to meet in the final to be staged at a venue to be agreed with the sponsors. All matches shall be played behind closed doors,” reads Ndebele’s proposal.

Clubs will have to finance their camping for the duration of the games.

The PSL also intends to import its own Covid-19 tests kits.

The major challenge raised by the PSL, which threatens the restart is funding.

Unlike European leagues or the South African Premiership that are backed by lucrative broadcast deals, the PSL doesn’t enjoy such luxury.

Since more TV stations were recently licensed, it remains to be seen if they will bid for the local league’s rights. – @ZililoR