Sup8r replay moved to Harare
The BancABC Sup8r semifinal replay between arch rivals Highlanders and Dynamos will now take place at the giant National Sports Stadium in Harare on 27 October.
In a meeting on Monday in the capital, both clubs reached a consensus that for the sake of football, sanity must prevail.
The meeting also saw the Bulawayo giants starting the process of withdrawing their case from the High Court.
"The semifinal replay will now be at the National Sports Stadium in Harare next Wednesday.
"As the Premier Soccer League we stood guided by the two clubs," said the PSL acting chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele.
He said the clubs raised objections over Baghdad Stadium in Kwekwe, where Zifa had directed that the replay be held.
"The clubs felt Baghdad was not ideal to host a game of that magnitude," said Ndebele.
Zifa ordered that the replay must be held within the calendar month of October.
Previously the Harare giants had said they were only prepared to play Highlanders in a nine-minute replay (which was the remaining time in the original match), not the full 90 minutes. Prior to that they had refused outright to a replay.
Highlanders chairman Themba Ndlela, whose club had already said they are willing to play Dynamos anywhere, said they remain guided by the PSL.
"As Highlanders we do not fixture ourselves. We will follow the PSL orders because we are a law-abiding football club and I hope Dynamos also fall into the same bracket," said Ndlela, who is also the PSL vice president.
The winner of the replay will then book a place in the final of the biggest knockout tournament in the Premiership where they will clash with Caps United.
Highlanders might as well stay in the capital, as they will be back at the giant stadium four days later in the Zaoga 50th Anniversary Charity Shield final against the same opponents.
In August, poor light forced referee Brighton Malandule to call off the epic tie with Dynamos leading 1-0 and due to take a penalty.
Time had been wasted by the two teams' untoward behaviour, which saw Dynamos take to the dressing room for 39 minutes in protest over a Highlanders penalty.
They even had the audacity of coming back to the field clad in their casual wear to wave goodbye to their supporters.
When sense prevailed they returned to the field and Highlanders' captain Gilbert Banda stepped forward to take the kick after regular takers developed cold feet. He failed to convert.
A few minutes later the Harare side were awarded theirs. Highlanders players followed the instructions of their coach Mohamed Fathi and went to the dressing room as Dynamos had done.
They were to return 29 minutes later but then it was dark and Malandule called off the match due to bad light.
However, an arbitration committee assembled by PSL put the blame for the abandonment of the match on Bosso and awarded the game to Dynamos on a 3-0 scoreline.
The Bulawayo giants then sought redress through the courts. They won a reprieve to stop the final from taking place.
The final, which would have seen Dynamos clashing with Caps United, was scheduled to take place on 22 September.
Winners of the BancABC Sup8r cup will pocket US$40 000, runners-up US$15 000 with the losing semifinalists set to receive US$6 000 each. Besides the financial motivation, the cup is also a ticket to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Confederations Cup.
