PSL close to top-eight deal

Sport
THE Premier Soccer League (PSL) is close to sealing a deal with a sponsor for a top-eight knockout tournament.

THE Premier Soccer League (PSL) is close to sealing a deal with a sponsor for a top-eight knockout tournament.

TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele said the tournament which had been scheduled to start in April was now expected to get rolling as soon as negotiations with the sponsor are concluded.

BancABC were the previous sponsors, but pulled out last year after the final which was won by Shabanie Mine.

The PSL boss, however, said the delay in the staging of the tournament will not affect other competitions including the Zimbabwe National Army Charity shfield final, which will feature Caps United and FC Platinum.

“We have reached an advanced stage in our negotiations with a sponsor for the top-eight tournament.  We are now just tying up some loose ends and we will announce the dates for the tournament in due course. But the late staging of this tournament will not affect any other competition,” Ndebele said.

With the Warriors having been booted out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled for Morocco, the PSL will not face any fixture challenges as they will stage some of the league matches on weekends supposed to have been reserved for the national team assignments.

The Warriors who were booted out by Tanzania on Sunday following a 2-2 draw, having lost the first leg 1-0 in Dar es Salaam, were scheduled to meet Mozambique for the right to play in the Group stages in which they were set to meet neighbours Zambia, the Cape Verde and Niger in Group E.

The first round of the top-eight tournament had been pencilled in for April 26 to 27 with the semi-finals having been scheduled for June 14 to 15 while the final had been set for June 28.

After the tournament, there will be the Chibuku Super Cup first round which has been scheduled for July 26 to 27 with the second round set for August 16 to 17. The semi finals have been set for August 30, with the final slated for September 27.

The Mbada Diamonds Cup is set to close the Zimbabwe soccer calendar with the first round scheduled for October 18 to 19 while the quarter-finals have been set for November 1. The semi-finals will be held on November 29 to 30 while the final will be played on December 20.

Traditionally, the Zimbabwean football calendar ends in November, but with the coming in of SuperSport, some games will now be played in December in line with other leagues around the world.

The league will end of December 20 — three weeks after the deadline for the two teams that will take part of the 2015 edition of the Caf Confederation Cup and the Champions League.