Premier Soccer League fixtures out today

The much-awaited 2014 Premier Soccer League fixtures will be released today during the league's annual general meeting which will culminate into the much-talked about PSL chairmanship election.

PSL chief executive officer Kenny Ndebele, confirmed the league would kick off during the weekend of March 29-30 and hinted on a possibility of Dynamos and How Mine - the country's representatives in the CAF competitions - kicking off their 2014 season with midweek fixtures, should they sail past the first round.

The second round fixtures of both the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup will be played in a fortnight's time with the first legs set for March 23 and the reverse encounters a week later. Although Ndebele could not confirm the league's sponsors, it is now clear that Delta Beverages will continue funding the 16-team league as the veteran administrator revealed that "the fixtures could only be released after clarification with the sponsor".

Two teams, down from the traditional four, will be relegated at the end of the season following the amendments made in line with Fifa requirements.

"The 2014 fixtures will be out  today during our AGM. Yes, the stakeholders were getting anxious about the fixtures but we couldn't release them before confirmation with the sponsor.

"We also needed all the 16 clubs to confirm their participation which they have done now.

"Imagine if we had released a fixture in January with Plumtree Chiefs, who are now Bantu Rovers, it would have created unnecessary confusion," said Ndebele yesterday. The burly administrator also revealed that the league had "agreed in principle" with all the sponsors of the three tournaments set to be played during the season hence the high probability of the season spilling into December. Ndebele also spoke of the inevitability of midweek fixtures and hinted that some league games could be played at night with Barbourfields, National Sports and Rufaro the likely venues for the evening kick-offs.

"We have agreed in principle with all the sponsors for the League, Charity Shield, Top 8 and the 16-team knock-out tournament. If you factor in the Warriors' Afcon qualifiers, then we certainly cannot avoid midweek fixtures. Given that our league normally runs for nine months, which translates to 36 weeks, the league should spill into December because we will need 30 match days (weeks) for the league, six weeks reserved for the 16-team tourney and three for the Top 8 cup.
 
"If you then include the national holidays like the Independence and Heroes Days as well as the CAF and Fifa weekends, it becomes automatic the league will run into December," said Ndebele.
 
BancABC, who sponsored the Sup8r Cup last year, have withdrawn their sponsorship amid growing murmurs that NetOne, sponsors of last year's Charity Shield, could take over the Top 8 tournament while Mbada Diamonds will remain funders of the country's richest 16-team knock-out tourney.

The PSL is also engaged in talks with Supersport who have indicated they can increase their coverage of the local top flight league on their Supersport 9 channel. Last year, Supersport beamed live a total of 53 games and Ndebele indicated the figure could rise to 70 this season "although it will require the staging of league double headers and floodlit matches."