The Sunday News
Allan Foti, Sunday News Correspondent
THE legal status of some of the Premier Soccer League PLS’s standing committees has been called into question and may lead to the league being stripped of some of its functions, investigations have revealed.
This came to light in the aftermath of a recent statement issued by the Zimbabwe Football Association to the PSL accusing the league of usurping the mother body’s constitutional right to run football in Zimbabwe.
This is the latest in a long list of confrontations between the league and Zifa and could have far reaching consequences should the mother body decide to enforce its constitution and shut down the league’s so-called parallel structures. Any move by Zifa to rationalise this situation could trigger an unprecedented number of appeals against decisions made the PSL’s ad hoc and disciplinary committees over the years.
Previously sanctioned clubs could use the supposed illegality of the league’s judiciary bodies to challenge decisions that have gone against them over the years. Zifa and the PSL have similar judiciary bodies namely the Disciplinary Committee and the Ethics Committee. The league handles its own disciplinary cases which according to Zifa as guided by its constitution is unlawful. Zifa also has an Appeals Committee but the PSL defers all appeals to the Zifa body.
On Tuesday last week, Zifa issued a statement warning the PSL against instituting disciplinary action against any of its members, such action being deemed the sole purview of the mother body according to Fifa statues. The statement came after the league resolved to sanction Chicken Inn head coach, Rahman Gumbo for supposedly causing the abandonment of his side’s Chibuku Super Cup first round match against Yadah Stars at Ascot Stadium in Gweru last month.
“It is the Zifa technical development committee that has the duty of licensing coaches, players and administrators and thus all disciplinary issues concerning coaches are, and should be handled by the association’s relevant judicial bodies, and not the league,’’ Zifa said in its statement.
“Premier Soccer League officials are therefore mandated to respect and observe football protocol.”
In a letter to PSL chief executive Kennedy Ndebele, Zifa’s chief executive Joseph Mamutse wrote: “Zifa has noted with concern persistent chaos emanating from poor management of PSL matches and disregard of Zifa Standing Committee and authority. The mandate of the PSL is to manage matches smoothly and the Zifa constitution clearly states that Zifa is in charge of Association Football and no one else.”
The letter also warned the league to “respect football protocol and authority of Zifa and should, therefore, desist from forming parallel football structures.’’ Zifa’s bone of contention lies with the existence of parallel structures within the PSL such as the disciplinary committee, a scenario akin to the league working like separate football administration.
Article 10, Section 1 of the Zifa constitution, confirms all PSL clubs as members of its Congress while Section 3 (b) requires that each member provide “a declaration that it will always comply with the Statutes, regulations and decisions of Zifa, Fifa and Caf and ensure that these are also respected by its own Members, Clubs, Officials and Players.”
According to a legal expert who declined to be named for professional reasons, this ensures that all clubs, being members of the Zifa Congress, are answerable solely to disciplinary proceedings instituted under the stewardship of the mother body.
The law officer also said the Zifa constitution makes it clear that decisions by the mother body or any of its standing committees or judiciary bodies take precedence over all others regarding football matters in the country. He added Zifa’s constitution was the supreme law of the land and cannot be eclipsed by the league’s constitution.
Another point the law officer was quick to point out was that since the increase of the league’s representation in the Zifa Congress from six to 18, the clubs were now part of the decision making process at the mother body and was aware of the legal frailties of the league’s judicial bodies.
“There is no law in Zimbabwe that can eclipse Zifa and as such the mother body was right in reminding the league of its limitations. Besides, when clubs decide that they should all get a seat in Congress they ensured that the only autonomy they have as a league is to run the operations of the PSL. All other aspects of the game like licensing, referees and disciplinary action are the singular responsibility of Zifa,” the law officer revealed.
Sources within Zifa suggest that this confrontation was a long time coming and insisted that over the years, Zifa’s constitution was not being upheld.
However, Zifa president Phillip Chiyangwa met with PSL and other stakeholders on Friday and resolved that the PSL and other bodies should align their constitutions with the Zifa consitution so that they do away with parallel structures. In the meantime, the status quo will remain the same.
The resolution of the Friday meeting will now be put on the agenda for the Congress.
During the meeting, Zifa also reversed their earlier decision to bar the PSL from using their own disciplinary committee, but that would only be until the league constitution is changed to give all powers to the mother body, as should be the norm. -@AllanFoti
