7 PSL clubs could have paid price for $350-a-night hotel rooms, $150-a-day meals
SEVEN members of the domestic Premiership would probably not be members of the country’s topflight football family if the league had proceeded with its defiant stance to keep its dispute with ZIFA over relegation and promotion at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
While The Herald has reported that the matter would have cost the domestic Premiership $17 000, which some of the members of the league management and emergency committee were ready to splash on the case, this newspaper has been advised that the cost of the litigation would have been far more than that.
The $17 000 was only a deposit, which every party to the dispute has to pay and ZIFA were also expected to fork out a similar amount for the case to be set aside for hearing by the highest authority in international sport in terms of conflict resolutions.
The two football bodies would have paid about $34 000 just for the deposit for their case to be heard.
However, there are other costs related to the hearing and this newspaper was informed that the PSL would have ended up forking more than $100 000 in conservative estimates for the case to be heard.
What is puzzling is that members of the PSL emergency committee, Lovemore Matikinyidze, the Triangle United boss and his Chicken Inn counterpart Lifa Ncube, were prepared to endorse such expenditure from a league whose champions get $100 000 for winning the championship.
Kenny Mubaiwa, the then Dynamos president, vetoed the move to pay the deposit, as a member of that emergency committee and CAPS United boss, Farai Jere, who was later co-opted to resolve disputes, also refuse to endorse the payment to CAS.
The Herald was advised yesterday that the parties to the dispute were also expected to cover the costs of air tickets for the arbitrators, in business class, in the event they were flying from more than 2 500 km for the hearing.
In the event they were flying a journey of less than 2 500km, the air tickets had be booked by the parties to the dispute in economy class.
The two parties were also expected to foot the costs of accommodation for the arbitrators at not less than $350 per night and their meals would cost not less than $150 a day.
“As you are aware, our dispute with ZIFA is now pending before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland,” a letter from the league to their members said in December 2016.
“We write to advise that CAS have requested that each party pays an amount of $17 000 being costs for the arbitration proceedings.
“We attach hereto the letter from CAS for your information. We are, therefore, seeking your approval to pay the amount required by CAS. This amount must be paid by the 12th of January, 2017.
“Find attached, hereto, a consent form for your signature if you are agreeable to the PSL paying the amount as directed by CAS.”
Matikinyidze and Ncube were happy to authorise that payment despite a number of the clubs failing to foot the costs of staying in the Premiership amid escalating costs and dwindling income.
Information gleaned from CAS shows that disputes can range from $50 000 to $100 000, once the hearing starts and the costs can even go as high as $10 million or more.
But, crucially, had the majority of the clubs not voted against dropping the case, as was being insisted by some of their leaders, the case related to the relegation and promotion would not have been dealt within the six months of the start of the proceedings.
And this would have meant that the domestic Premiership would have slipped into paralysis and the door would have been shut for the new members like Yadah Stars, Bantu Rovers, Shabanie Mine and Black Rhinos, who came into the top-flight league at the beginning of last year.
Bantu were the only team, among the newboys, who went down. The crisis would also have affected the promotion and relegation for this season and Herentals, Mutare City, Nichrut and Bulawayo Chiefs would also probably not have proceeded into the Premiership at the beginning of this year.
This means that this case had a direct bearing on the membership of seven of the 18 clubs that currently constitute the Premiership — Yadah Stars, Shabanie Mine, Black Rhinos, Herentals, Mutare City, Nichrut and Bulawayo Chiefs.
Two months later, in January last year, the bid by the rebellious group at the PSL to take their fight to CAS was crushed by the top-flight clubs, led by heavyweights Dynamos, Highlanders, CAPS United and FC Platinum, who forced their ad hoc leaders to withdraw the case from CAS.
However, the league’s heavyweights — Dynamos, Highlanders, CAPS United and FC Platinum — led the crusade to fight against prolonging the dispute at CAS and the other members fully supported their stance.
In January last year, the PSL clubs, through their lawyers Coghlan, Welsh and Guest, officially advised CAS they were withdrawing their case.
“We, the undersigned Governors of the PSL: (a) lawfully congregated in Congress in accordance with the PSL statutes and
(b) by lawful authority representing the following PSL members — Border Strikers, Bulawayo City, CAPS United, Chapungu, Dynamos, FC Platinum, Harare City, Highlanders, How Mine, Hwange, Mutare City, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Triangle, Tsholotsho and ZPC Kariba
“That, pursuant to our resolution of the 19th November, 2016, we shall all and each proceed posthaste to formally withdraw the case CAS 2016 /0 /4873 PSL and All versus Zimbabwe Football Association from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
Interestingly, Matikinyidze is now eyeing the possibility of becoming the next PSL leader in charge of a league where about half of its membership might not have been part of the family had the CAS issue, which he supported, dragged on.