A DECADE OF DECLINE . . . From the heights of a Top Ten place, the PSL has plunged down the table FACTS AND FIGURES . . . This graph shows how the domestic Premiership has had a trying time, in the past decade, with its points value plunging from a high of 18 points, to zero, and then climbing, in the last rankings, to 11 points

Robson Sharuko

Senior Sports Editor

FROM a high point of being ranked ninth in 2012, to the lowest mark of losing all points, the domestic Premiership has gone through its toughest phase, in the past decade.

The shine, which the league had at the turn of the last decade, powered in part by Dynamos’ qualification for the semi-finals of the 2008 CAF Champions League, has now faded.

Instead, it has now been replaced by a dark shade of grey, with league now a shell of what it used to be, as every decent footballer now dumps it, even for an adventure in some obscure leagues.

It’s hard to believe that, just nine years ago, it was the top-ranked, top-flight league in Southern African.

With the country’s football leaders seemingly struggling, to find a way to bring back the game, amid the Covid-19 nightmare, it’s looking gloomy for the domestic Premiership.

The Glamour Boys, the league’s biggest and most successful club, have sent an SOS, telling the game’s leaders the life support system, which has kept them going in the past two years, could be switched off as early as next month.

Their flagship sponsors, Rudland and George, a subsidiary of Gold Leaf Tobacco, have inevitably raised concern about why they should continue to pour in the funds, when the game is not being played.

CAPS United and Highlanders, the other two members of the country’s Big Three clubs, were the first to feel the pain when NetOne withdrew their sponsorship, with the company saying they were now diverting their funds to help the country fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Only this week, the Green Machine vice-president, Nhamo Tutisani, was forced to issue a statement denying reports the club were teetering on the verge of collapse.

That a club, which only five years ago, knocked out five-time African champions, TP Mazembe, from the Champions League, and thrashed five-time champions, Zamalek, 3-1, in the same tournament, should be dispelling reports about their possible collapse, highlights the gravity of the crisis.

The situation is said to be even worse, among some of the league’s lightweights, who were last year forced to pay their players, without realising any income, with the entire season wiped away by Covid-19.

And, an analysis of the past decade, also paints a picture, which shows a league which has been in steady decline, in the past 10 years.

Such has been the alarming decline that, at the turn of the last decade, in 2011, Dynamos had more points (14) than what the entire league has today (11), in terms of the CAF rankings.

The Glamour Boys were ranked the ninth strongest club on the continent, by the CAF experts, in 2012, and their strong position helped give the league 17 points, which was enough for 12th place on the continent.

Tunisia occupied first place, with 96 points, Egypt were second, with 87 points, Nigeria were third, with 75 points, Sudan were fourth, with 54 points, the DRC were fifth, with 46 points and Algeria were sixth, with 27 points.

Morocco were seventh, with 20 points, Mali were also seventh, with as many points, Cameroon were ninth, with 19 points while Angola and Cote I’voire were both in 10th place, with 18 points.

This meant that, in Southern Africa, the domestic Premiership was ranked only second, in terms of its quality, to the Angolans, with just one point separating the two leagues.

Interestingly, Dynamos, on their own, had accrued just four points less than the entire Angolans’ top-flight league, with the Glamour Boys contributing a staggering 82.35 percent to the value of the domestic league, on the CAF rankings.

The Ghanaian Premiership, for example, in 13th place in 2011, with 12 points, had two fewer points than the Harare giants, on their own.

The Zambian Super Division, where a number of Zimbabweans have been flocking to, in recent years, had just 10 points, four less than DeMbare, with the South African Premiership, with seven points, having half the Glamour Boys’ number of points.

The Senegalese top-flight league, whose dominant club AS Jaraaf, are scheduled to play FC Platinum in the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday, had just one point, 13 less than Dynamos’ personal tally, in 2011.

With enough points to make the top 12 leagues, on the continent, it meant the local Premiership had the luxury of fielding two representatives, in the CAF Champions League.

The following year, 2012, was even better, for the domestic Premiership, with its value rising to 18 points, and ninth place in Africa.

Dynamos’ 10 points meant the Glamour Boys had shed their value, on the rankings, losing four points.

But, to put that into perspective, the entire Angolan and Zambian top-flight leagues had 12 points, just two more than DeMbare, while the South African Premiership had just five points, half the number which were in the Glamour Boys’ pockets.

In 2013, the domestic Premiership dropped into 11th place, with 13 points, but the league was still ranked above the Zambian top-flight league, in 14th place with 10 points, and Supa Diski, in 17th place, with just a point.

However, the alarm bells were already starting to ring, with DeMbare’s 1-7 aggregate loss to Esperance, in the Champions League the previous year, providing the first signal things were starting to go downhill.

By 2014, for the first time in the last decade, the domestic Premiership fell out of the exclusive club of the top 12 leagues, which can provide an extra team to the CAF inter-club competitions, with the local league ranked 13th, with eight points.

The Zambian Super Division was just one rung down, in 14th place, with seven points, while Supa Diski was pointless.

However, in 2015, the domestic league sunk, even further, and fell into 18th place, with just three points, while Supa Diski surged into 11th place, with 20 points, and the Zambian Super Division was in 16th place.

It got worse for the local league, the following year, as its value dropped to one point, and 18th place, which meant that, in just four years, it had lost 17 points, about 94.5 percent of its value in 2012.

By the beginning of 2017, the domestic league had lost everything, with no point, while Supa Diski had risen to number six, on the continent, with 27 points.

CAPS United’s fine run in the Champions League, beating TP Mazembe and Zamalek, brought some relief and by 2019, the local league had eight points but, in 20th place, it was far away from the fine company it once had, eight years earlier.

Now, it was dancing with the likes of Rwanda’s top-flight, with eight points, and Eswatini, with seven points.

The success of FC Platinum, in reaching the group stage of the last Champions League, and Triangle’s brave run, to get to the playoff round of the Confederation Cup, brought some relief.

And, at the beginning of this season’s CAF interclub tournaments, the local league’s stock rose to 11 points, and 15th place.

But, with Supa Diski now in sixth place, with 68.5 points, and Zambia in seventh place, on 43 points, there is no question, standards here have slipped.

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