Zimbabwe: 'Domestic football programme could be scrapped', says top club

By Robson Sharuko

One of the country's Big Three clubs feels the entire domestic football programme could be scraped, without a ball being kicked, for the first time in its 58-year history.

The Big Three is a family that features the country's leading and most successful football clubs -- Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United.

It's the first time one of them has raised such an alarm, since the game was paralysed by the COVID-19 outbreak, whose national lockdown was extended by the Government for a further two weeks.

It also highlights the serious challenges the clubs have been grappling with.

The domestic football programme has never been cancelled, for the entire season, since the first top-flight league roared into life in 1962 and was won by Bulawayo Rovers.

Although the 1998/1999 season was married, as part of the failed experiment to switch to an August/May European-style season, competitive matches were still played on the domestic front in both years.

For instance, the Madison Trophy was played in a round-robin format, to find the four semi-finalists, with the Northern and Southern Region sides playing a league format.

This was meant to ensure football would still be played during the vacuum when the league would not be in action.

While football leaders, around the world, have been engrossed in serious discussions about the impact the pandemic is having on their constituencies, there has been deafening silence on the domestic front.

The football leaders haven't grabbed the initiative to explore how their constituency -- already battered by a number of serious challenges in a tough operating environment -- will confront the post-crisis period.

Key questions, which were supposed to be asked, are not being dealt with:

Will there be a truncated season, and if so, does it mean the possibility of playing just one round of the season without the traditional home-and-away programme?

In the event that's the option, will that be acceptable, as a fair process to determine the champions, or those to be relegated, without any violation of the rules and regulations governing the leagues?

Will Delta, who have been bankrolling the domestic Premiership, be prepared to inject funds to support a truncated season, or they would rather wait until the storm is finally over and normalcy returns?

After all, the giant company haven't even unveiled their new sponsorship deal with the PSL after the last one expired at the end of last season.

Will NetOne, who have been providing a lifeline for CAPS United, Highlanders and Black Rhinos, commit themselves to bankrolling the three clubs in a truncated season?

Or, in the event the whole season is wiped out, can the company still pour millions into these franchises even when their brand is not being marketed, as would have been the case, if the matches were being played?

With nothing coming from the gate receipts, how will the clubs sustain their operations in the event the sponsors, who themselves are being hit hard by this virus outbreak, decide to take a back seat and concentrate on bringing their companies back into good shape?

Even those clubs, which have boasted of very strong corporate support in the past, are there any guarantees that they will continue to receive such financial support given that their sponsors are also likely to feel the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown?

What chances do clubs, which are owned by individuals like Division One side Simba Bhora, have of surviving, after the lockdown when the financial status of their owners would have been severely impacted by the lack of trading during this lockdown?

Will the sponsors of Dynamos, who recently unveiled a package for the Glamour Boys, continue pumping money into the Harare giants, without their brand being marketed, as would have been the case if the league matches are being played, if the entire season is scrapped this year?

There are a lot of serious questions, which are badly crying out for the game's leaders to discuss and provide a way forward, but are not being deliberated.

For the domestic football programme to start, even behind closed doors, all the players, coaches and technical staff, referees and security personnel will have to be tested.

That will be a massive exercise which, considering the way the domestic leaders haven't been providing the required leadership during this crisis, appears beyond the sport's capacity.

And, a member of the domestic game's Big Three clubs, has now come out to raise the alarm that things are not looking good and the time has come for the family to discuss the challenges facing them.

"We can't even approximate when the season may commence," he said, while asking for The Herald not to reveal his identity because of some contractual issues.

"We're are not plugged into the national process and science involved. If the season is to start in a month's time (which is not practical), clubs will need a whole month, at least, for pre-season re-do.

"Before that, tests have to be done in and around the clubs to ensure that the environment is clean and players are safe. Strict protocol will have to be followed for pick-up, training contact, post-training transport and family routines etc.

"The match itself will be protocol-laden, and our football behaviour and interactions, will never be the same again.

"The effects on sponsorship are huge, our situation is not anywhere close to defined and we'll be very fortunate to maintain our sponsorship at a level equivalent to last year, at this rate.

"I have no difficulty with leaders posturing normalcy in public, for purposes of not creating panic within their ranks.

"However, I have a problem with the real lack of conversation behind the scenes, the deafening lack of planning noises, the individualism of our clubs which feeds on fake normalcy, and secrecy, all meant to exhibit some false competitive advantage.

"I am tearing my hair out, even as I write. I truly hope that in the privacy of our spaces, as administrators, we have taken a bit of something from your articles and have become alive to the catastrophe ahead."

The club leader doesn't see how the domestic football programme, from the Premiership to the lower leagues, can go ahead this year given the challenges which the game will have to deal with in the post-crisis period

This article originally appeared on The Herald

Photo: News Day