Zimbabwean soccer clubs run like shebeens

ZIFA will at the end of this month organise a club licensing seminar before setting up a licensing board as part of its bid to have football in the country run along professional lines.The move comes after some football analysts have likened Zimbabwean football to a shebeen that operates without a liquor licence.

Only a few clubs in the Premier Soccer League have made strides into running their clubs along the dictates of the Club Licensing statutes, itself a Fifa requirement.

"We noted that some clubs have no idea what this monster called Club Licensing was, some are not even aware it exists so we've decided to have a club licensing seminar at the end of this month and thereafter set up a Club Licensing board," said the Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela.

There have been  calls by some administrators for clubs to abide by the Club Licensing Regulations requirements, some even coming from Zifa yet it was fully aware that the first step was to set up a licensing board or empower its highest affiliate, which is the PSL, to be the licensing authority of its clubs.

Recently, interim Zifa technical director Maxwell Jongwe caused a storm when he said all PSL coaches must be holders of Caf A licence badge which he said was per Club Licensing requirements yet he knew that his employer had not set up a regulatory authority.

Caps United chief executive officer Joe Makuvire welcomed the move to set up the board which he said was long overdue.

"It's common knowledge that the PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele has been tirelessly pursuing the Club Licensing issue and I believe we should all complement the efforts that this gentleman has been putting," said Makuvire.

He said the stumbling block though would be the issue of land, as owning a stadium was critical in the new dispensation.

"In a conducive economic environment I think most clubs can really afford to own a piece of land and build their own stadia but at the moment we're faced with a difficult task, made worse by our municipalities who're not supportive of our cause," said Makuvire.

Meanwhile, due to the absence of a licensing board and full implementation of the Club Licensing Regulations requirements, Zifa will allow the newly promoted Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services teams, Whawha and Flame Lily, to join the PSL even though its against the Club Licensing Regulations requirements.

"For now we want our teams to appreciate the club licensing system and we'll allow the two teams to participate because the application of the regulations is a process not an event," said Gwesela.

According to Article 9.1 of the Club Licensing Regulations, it is of fundamental importance that the sporting integrity of  club competitions be protected. To that end, Fifa and the confederations reserve  the right to intervene and to take appropriate action in any situation in which it transpires that the same individual or legal entity is in a position to influence the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in the same club competition.