PSL approaches court over Chiyangwa mess

The standoff between the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) escalated yesterday when the latter resolved to approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

Relations between the two football bodies have turned sour following last month's Zifa Annual General Meeting (AGM) where councillors voted to relegate four teams from the PSL instead of two.

Last week, Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa suspended PSL chairperson Peter Dube while Highlanders chief executive Ndumiso Gumede was expelled from all football activities.

However, PSL clubs met in the capital yesterday and agreed to appoint advocates Lewis Uriri and Pat Kachidza to handle their application to the Switzerland-based court.

Dynamos president Kenni Mubaiwa in the meantime will be the PSL's chairperson while Dube's matter is being resolved.                  

In their Cas application, the PSL clubs are also seeking protection against any further suspensions or sanctions likely to be handed down by Zifa.

The clubs also agreed that no team will be relegated from the top flight league at the end of this season until the matter has been resolved by Cas.

This is going to be a major blow to teams that have won the Division One championships namely Black Rhinos (Northern), Bantu Rovers (Southern) and Shabanie Mine (Central).

The Eastern Region Division One League is yet to be decided with Buffaloes and Yadah FC fighting for the championship.   

"...formally request arbitration in terms of the Cas Rules of Procedure, and apply to Cas for interim measures of protection which shall include but not limited to the following," the PSL said.

"...an order barring Zifa from interfering with the day to day running of the PSL, and an order barring the purported suspension of and commencement of any proceedings whatsoever against the governors attending this meeting and/or their respective clubs and/or the PSL on the basis that: they have associated with an organisation, being the PSL, considered to have no legal standing in the Zifa Statutes or.

"...they have not made decisions incidental to their membership of Zifa 'independently', or they have pursued the arbitration route with Cas, or they have declined to be bound by the unlawful and hence immediately null and void, resolution of the Zifa Congress of the 29 barring the forcible imposition of members on the PSL.             

"...allowing, for the avoidance of doubt, the PSL to continue to manage its competitions as in the past.

"...barring the interference with the PSL's resolution that it will not relegate any ...member club at the end of the 2016 season pending the disposition of the substantive dispute by Cas, and generally all such interim relief as in counsel's view, may be necessary or incidental to the effective implementation of the foregoing."

The PSL clubs also feel there is an attempt by Zifa to render the league dysfunctional body and dilute their representation in the Zifa Assembly.

"...there is a deliberate scheme to render the PSL dysfunctional and consequently we note the following: the abortive attempt to amend the Zifa Constitution on October 29, 2016 so as to effectively expel the members of the PSL from Zifa and have the PSL, which has not applied for membership, imposed as a member on the club's behalf with delegates reduced from 16 to 4," the league said.

"The unjustified suspension, in our view, of our chairman is punishment for communicating our collective view.

"The threats, direct and implied, directed at officers of the PSL or member clubs, that they will be suspended or otherwise dealt with for not towing the line.     

"...the description of the PSL as an organisation which has no standing in terms of the Zifa constitution, a position we do not agree with as the Zifa constitution mentions the PSL, and Zifa has received and continues to receive the PSL's affiliation fees and levies."

The PSL added: "Zifa's administrative structures and Congress have been rendered dysfunctional such that Zifa as an entity can no longer make decisions as such, but has become a powerless vehicle for the implementation of the whims of a group of individuals who have arrogated to themselves the exclusive function of running football in Zimbabwe."