Money games fill PSL gap

WITH the 2020 Premier Soccer League (PSL) season mired in COVID-19-induced uncertainty, money games involving topflight and Division One players have filled the gap and satisfied football thirst among fans in the highdensity suburbs, particularly in Harare.

The government, like the rest of the world, imposed a lockdown in March

— banning all mass gatherings, including football to control the spread of the disease.

A new trend has, however, been developing, where several PSL players are participating in unsanctioned games in most parts of Harare’s high-density suburbs.

PSL stars, whose services usually come at a cost, have illuminated suburbs such as Kambuzuma, Highfield, Mabvuku and Chitungwiza to mention a few.

Premium entertainment has come to the communities for free. Football fans gather in multitudes to consume the free entertainment that has been provided by the COVID-19 delays to the start of the season.

Apart from changing the lifestyles of footballers, supporters’ way of life has also been transformed.

Die-hard fans, traditionally used to going to stadiums on a weekly basis to watch their teams in action, now congregate in their thousands in the dusty grounds in the suburbs to watch money games.

Several high-profile PSL players participate in the games whose fixtures are systematically arranged like those of professional leagues.

Notable figures who have been participating in these games include the Caps United trio of Tatenda Tumba, Innocent Mucheneka and Blessing Sarupinda, Dynamos’ Barnabas Mushunje, Ngezi Platinum midfielder Devon

Chafa and Chicken Inn midfielder Tichaona Chipunza, among several others.

The players have been given individual training programmes by their coaches to follow during the lockdown.

However, the boredom, due to the prolonged time without playing, has forced some of them to resort to money games in violation of the rules. They can’t wait to return to action.

The depressed standards of livinglargely blamed on the government’s mismanagement of the economy have also forced them to find ways of augmenting their earnings whose value has been severely eroded since the lockdown.

In some cases, they play for between US$500 to US$1 000 in prize money.

The players’ actions though are in conflict with both the government’s guidelines on COVID-19 which do not permit mass gatherings and the PSL which does not allow players to participate in games it has not sanctioned.

While football clubs might want to punish those that are not in keeping with the rules, they may fail to nail down implicated players in the absence of compelling evidence.

This is because, even if a player has been involved in these games, he will simply deny it if there is no concrete proof. This essentially means clubs have lost grip on their players.

They can’t control them in this extraordinary environment caused by COVID-19.

While the majority of supporters were used to paying entry fees, they now conveniently watch the games in their communities free of charge.

Of course, some might be delighted that they watch the games free of charge, but diehard fans with an emotional attachment to their teams, draw little value from watching mere football figures.