Herentals case deferred again

Sports Reporter

THE much-awaited ruling on Herentals FC, who are appealing against a ruling by the Premier Soccer League disciplinary committee to throw them out of the top-flight, has once again been deferred to Wednesday by the

ZIFA Appeals Committee.

The PSL disciplinary committee decided to expel the club for taking football matters to court.

This came after the club won their appeal against a guilty verdict delivered by same disciplinary committee in a match-fixing case .

Herentals subsequently took their case to the ZIFA Appeals Committee, where the matter has been pending for a while after having been pegged back by the lockdown. In the appeal case, which was due to be heard last Friday, the respondents, PSL,

applied for the recusal of the ZIFA

Appeals Committee chairperson Stead Kachere. The Appeals Committee is expected to make a ruling on Wednesday. Kachere confirmed the development, although he did not attend the meeting.

“Yes, it (Herentals case) commenced yesterday and I was not present, but I am told the respondent, PSL, made a preliminary application for the recusal of the chairperson, and the Appeals Committee will make a ruling on Wednesday

“You may get hold of Mzeche (Rodin) our committee member, he was chairing,” said Kachere.

Mzeche was, however, not reachable for comment. PSL communications officer Kudzai Bare refused to comment on the latest development. Instead, she referred all the questions to ZIFA.

“You can check with the ZIFA

Appeals Committee,” said Bare.

ZIFA spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela also confirmed that the dragging case would now be heard this week. The case is one of two matters which the ZIFA Appeals Committee has been seized with. The other one pits ZIFA Board and their vice president Gift Banda, in which the board wants the Bulawayo businessman-cum-politician to remain suspended. Banda seemed to have won at the Appeals Committee on a technicality, but ZIFA have made a fresh bid to keep him in the cold with the board last week submitting papers for “late condonation of appeal’’.