Clubs meet over football return
THE Premier Soccer League (PSL) is set to meet on April 30 to discuss the timing of the resumption of the 2021 league season. PSL chairperson Farai Jere yesterday revealed that topflight league clubs would meet at the end of the month where they will decided how the league will run.
The tournament, which will be played next month where teams will be divided into four groups playing in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare and Zvishavane, will only serve as a pre-season tournament with the league likely to kick off in July, but a final decision will be made by the clubs.
“We are aware people want to know when the league will start. We will be meeting on April 30 where that issue will be one of the main items to be discussed. The proposed cluster competition will be used as pre-season, so the final decision on the league will come out of that meeting,” Jere said.
Initially, there had been suggestions to have the elite league return under a cluster competition to be hosted in Harare, Bulawayo, Manicaland and Zvishavane as a cost-cutting measure considering that the matches would be played in empty stadiums. With PSL tentatively setting mid-May as the start date of the cluster competition, the actual league programme could begin anytime between June and August.
For the pre-season tournament, teams will be placed in four groups with the first group consisting of Dynamos, Caps United, Harare City, Herentals, Yadah and ZPC Kariba which will be based in Harare. The second group will feature Bulawayo Chiefs, Bulawayo City, Chicken Inn and Highlanders.
The third group will have Manica Diamonds and Tenax, Black Rhinos and Cranborne Bullets; with the fourth containing FC Platinum, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Triangle United and WhaWha.
All PSL teams have started training in preparation for the tournament that precedes the league programme.
Last year’s league programme was abandoned after the country was put on lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Only the Castle Challenge Cup was played.
Topflight teams have been busy in the market trying to acquire new players to improve their squads ahead of the game's resumption.