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Kudzai Bare

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
AS the curtain comes down on the Castle Lager Premiership season this weekend, the league’s leaders are still working out on the modalities of the trophy presentation with their stakeholders. The trophy may head either to the capital or Gweru on Super Saturday. All the league matches have been scheduled for Saturday at 3pm across a various venues. But two venues, which are of real importance in terms of the championship race, are Ascot — where FC Platinum may make history if they beat Chapungu to become the first team from outside Harare and Bulawayo to win the league in more than 50 years. The other venue is the National Sports Stadium where Dynamos may squeeze through should the Zvishavane miners choke against the Airforce side.

Last year, the PSL had two trophies stationed in Bulawayo, where FC Platinum and Tsholotsho were playing, and the other one was in Gweru where CAPS United were eventually crowned champions after beating Chapungu at Ascot. Interestingly, Ascot is again involved in the league title matrix this season and Chapungu have said they will uphold the ethos of Fair Play as they host the league favourites.

The Gweru airmen said they don’t owe the miners anything and will not do them a favour. The league spokesperson Kudzai Bare said they were still working on the logistics. “We are still liaising with our stakeholders to see how we are going to do it this season,” said Bare.

All the league matches will be played at the same time across various venues on Saturday. FC Platinum and Dynamos are involved in the league title race while the relegation battle will also reach its climax. Two teams will be relegated to join Bantu Rovers and Tsholotsho who have already been axed.

The battle for the chop involves Hwange, who just need to win their away match against ZPC Kariba to survive, while Bulawayo city will be praying that they beat Bantu Rovers and Hwange falter. For Harare City, they need maximum points against How Mine at Rufaro and then hope the other teams lose their matches so that they survive.

Meanwhile, Ngezi Platinum and Dynamos have been fined $2 500 each by the Premier Soccer League disciplinary committee after they were both found guilty of contributing towards the violence which rocked Baobab during their league match last month. The match on October 28 was briefly stopped for 13 minutes after Dynamos fans invaded the pitch in an incident which was sparked by a Ngezi Platinum ball boy.

The two clubs are further expected to meet the costs of the hearing and effectively pay $2 000 after $500 was suspended for the rest of the season. During the league match, which was eventually won 2-0 by the hosts, a Ngezi Platinum ball boy took the match ball and threw it into the Dynamos goal during a brief stoppage. This did not go down well with the Dynamos players and their fans who were further infuriated when Ngezi scored shortly afterwards.

Fixtures
Saturday: Shabanie Mine v Yadah (Maglas), Harare City v How Mine (Rufaro), ZPC Kariba v Hwange (Nyamhunga), Tsholotsho v Black Rhinos (Dulivadzimo), Bulawayo City v Bantu Rovers (Luveve), Ngezi Platinum v Triangle (Baobab), Highlanders v CAPS United (Barbourfields), Dynamos v Chicken Inn (National Sports Stadium), Chapungu v FC Platinum (Ascot).