THE Premier Soccer League (PSL) leadership meets in Harare tomorrow to review the just-ended season won by Dynamos and where close to 60 matches were screened live by broadcast partner Supersport in one of their most successful seasons. WELLINGTON TONI SPORTS EDITOR
Dynamos won the league title for the third season on the trot, Highlanders scooped the cash-rich Mbada Diamonds Cup while Shabanie Mine were crowned the winners of the BancABC Sup8r Cup.
Chicken Inn won the NetOne Charity Shield at the beginning of the season.
Zimbabwe will be represented by Dynamos and How Mine in the Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup next season, meaning the league has to work around their 2014 fixtures to avoid congestion and finish the season by November 30.
ZPC Kariba, Plumtree Chiefs, Chapungu and Hippo Valley were promoted into the PSL from the North, South, Central and Eastern Regions respectively, ensuring that the game of football will be spread across the country next season.
Tomorrow’s meeting also comes on the backdrop of finance and administration manager Carthbert Mutandwa being dismissed by the league for “insubordination, incompetence, ineffectiveness and direct defiance of authority”.
Mutandwa has penned a dossier which alleges gross mismanagement of the league and questioned several decisions made by the league’s management committee, of which he was also part.
His contract was due to expire next February and the league exercised its option not to renew it, leaving the former Masvingo United and Mwana African administrator an angry man.
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He is now seeking conciliation — a process of adjusting or settling disputes in a friendly manner through extra-judicial means of bringing two opposing sides together to reach a compromise in an attempt to avoid taking a case to trial.
Mutandwa’s lawyers have written to the league’s PSL chief executive Kennedy Ndebele seeking an explanation to why their client was unfairly dismissed.
Ndebele responded in part: “Further, note that the termination of your client’s contract is due to willingness by the company to terminate the employment relationship (see paragraph 19,0 of the employment contract), in which case the company will pay your client’s dues for the remainder of the contract. However, your client’s employment relationship has not been without blemish, as the executive committee has grappled with your client’s insubordination, incompetence, ineffectiveness and direct defiance of authority, which themselves may have led to a disciplinary hearing.”
Mutandwa’s lawyers Matsikidze and Mucheche legal practitioners wrote to the Principal Labour Officer in the Labour ministry requesting for conciliation between the PSL and the former administrator.
“Carthbert Mutandwa was employed as an executive secretary for the Premier Soccer League, wherein he was later promoted to being the finance and administration director for the respondent. The contract of employment was consummated to run from the 1st of March 2009 to 28th February 2014. It is also worth to note that the promotion was on the above-mentioned contractual terms without no major variances thereto.
“However, the employer on its own instance terminated the contract of employment without any lawful basis or reasons. Furthermore, Carthbert Mutandwa’s contract of employment was terminated before its expiry and also without any adherence to the legal procedures required . . . ,” part of the letter to the PSL read.
Away from that, clubs are expected to come up with a cocktail of measures to restrain the conduct of their fans as clubs suffer the brunt at the end of the season with heavy fines being deducted from their league earnings.
Dynamos will part with about $64 500 for various offences, chief among them, pitch invasions and throwing of missiles during matches by fans’ from their $70 000 prize money.
The league champions were fined a total of $11 000 for using an undesignated entry point and missile throwing during their 2-4 loss to Hwange at the Colliery while former assistant coach Tichaona Diya was fined $1 000 for abusive language towards match officials during the same game.
Dynamos also picked up four $8 000 fines for their fans misbehaviour in matches against Highlanders (twice), Monomotapa and How Mine.
For pitch invasion against Black Mambas in the last game of the season and Caps United, they were docked $16 000.
On two occasions against Shabanie Mine and Highlanders, Dynamos failed to provide team sheets on time and accrued a $2 000 fine.
Highlanders’ failure to control their fans in matches against Dynamos (twice), Shabanie Mine (twice) and delaying kick-off, racked them fines of $26 550.
Caps United, the third biggest franchise in the league, failed to account for gate takings on three occasions in matches against Motor Action, Buffaloes and Shabanie Mine and were fined $6 000.
The Green Machine was also fined $16 000 for missile-throwing in the matches against Dynamos and Highlanders.
Five coaches were found in the wrong — Highlanders’ Kelvin Kaindu, Gishon Ntini of Triangle, David George and Johnson Mhungu of Motor Action and Dynamos assistant coach Tichaona Diya.
