ANY soccer star selection process will not be accepted by every football fan and this is a trend the world over.
Own Correspondent
Zimbabwe soccer is no exception in this regard. But when such a selection becomes a debatable issue every year, it only calls for those in charge to revisit the process that determines the outstanding players in a particular season.
The 2013 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) has just ended with Dynamos retaining the title, their third in a row, all won on goal difference.
They also won the third soccer star of the year award consecutively after Washington Arubi won it in 2011 and Denvar Mukamba last year.
This means the league champions have produced nine soccer stars since independence, as Tawanda Muparati who scored five goals this season was named the most outstanding player last Friday.
There is a strong chorus from football fans who feel that Muparati’s runners-up Silas Songani of Harare City and Kudakwashe Mahachi of Chicken Inn, deserved the award more than Muparati.
Maybe they have a point; maybe they don’t understand the selection process. What is the selection process like?
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Another chorus has questioned the selection of Black Rhinos goalkeeper Herbert Rusawo ahead of George Chigova of Dynamos and Highlanders’ Munyaradzi Diya, both among the 11 outstanding players chosen by the 49 football experts.
What is of interest is that the 2013 top goalscorer Tendai Ndoro led in the first round of voting, only to lose out in the second round of voting which saw Muparati, Songani and Mahachi emerge as the top three.
Can Ndoro not claim the big one, based on the first voting?
Should it not become automatic from the first voting? What is the logic behind the second round voting for the top three?
These are some of the questions the fans are asking on the voting pattern of the whole system.
The convenors of the selection process have explained the awarding of the top goalminder to Rusawo, as a question of statistics used.
Mathematics played a big part, with the law of averages coming into play.
The number of matches played (more than 15) versus the goals conceded was used and the Rhinos goalkeeper emerged as the winner.
In using the law of averages the convenors, did not consider that in mathematics there is also probability which can play a part in the outcome given that Chigova and Diya played more matches than Rusawo.
The probability of Rusawo conceding more goals in the difference, in games played between him and the pair of Chigova and Diya could have been high.
It won’t be a surprise in future if teams keep their goalkeepers on the bench after the 15 match mark in order for them to win the award.
The use of statistics also points to a not well co-ordinated event, for how did the selectors miss the superior average in goals conceded for Rusawo?
It could be that we are having a group of journalists who are watching the games without proper stats and figures, for how do we explain the omission of Rusawo from the 11 outstanding players and the inclusion of the two goalkeepers among the 11, who go on to miss it out on the goalkeeper of the year award?
It’s either both Chigova and Diya should not have been there or Rusawo is not the goalkeeper of the year.
The convenors are also silent on the composition of the 49 experts. Some of the journalists who have covered the past three editions of the PSL have continued to be absent from the panel.
An example is that of ZBC reporters, which had one reporter on the panel for an organisation as big as it is. Also having one reporter, were the Herald and the Sunday News.
There was the recognition of publications such as Gemazo, Oupost and The Patriot. It won’t be a surprise to see DeMbare dotcoms or Bosso Live representatives on the panel in the near future.
Most of the 49 panellists are said to have been part of the selectors who have been voting for the player of the month for the whole season, although some were included on the selection of the 11 soccer stars.
The monthly awards are not announced on time so as to give the fans a picture of the outstanding players throughout the season. The announcements were made to the fans at the end of the season.
Consistence is absent on the coach of the year award. A coach can win an award having been in charge of 11 league matches.
A coach is denied the same award having gone 23 matches unbeaten- the argument being that he did not win any piece of silverware, come 2013 another coach without a silverware wins the award.
The PSL, the sponsors (Delta), the Sports Writers’ Association (if it still exists) need to revisit the selection process. This should not be an event, but a process.
We appreciate the monthly awards which should be done and announced on time. We also appreciate the inclusion of the coaches in the selection process, which was not there in the past.
We, however, feel that this selection should start at the beginning of the soccer season. Although expensive, the setting up of a technical committee that will have representatives at every match to give a guide is important.
Man-of-the-match awards at each and every match, we feel should be the starting point.
This will build to the player of the month and eventually to the player of the year.
