Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
THE annual Payserv Financial Services Sector soccer tournament – that has become a must on the banking sporting calendar – is set to grow bigger this year amid revelations by the organisers that they will incorporate women’s teams for the competition set for the Standard Chartered Sports Club in Harare. Standard Chartered Bank, surprise winners of the tournament last year ahead of favourites FBC Bank and ZB Bank, have been on a revival mission since their stunning win in November last year.
They have also forced themselves into the reckoning in what has turned out to be a two-horse race for the league title, with the Payserv Cup champions currently two points behind leaders FBC, who have 43 points on the FSS log standings and six ahead of third-placed CABS. But with the 2017 edition of the Payserv Cup being launched at the tournament venue – Standard Chartered Sports Club – on October 28, focus will soon shift to the knock-out competition where the 10 teams in the FSS League and six invitational sides drawn from the financial services sector will battle it out for the season-ending silverware.
FSS League chairman Kudzai Kwangwari said the top four teams from the league would be seeded for the draw the with round robin matches scheduled for November 4-5 while the quarter-final, semis and the final are pencilled in for November 11. Kwangwari, a former CAPS United centre-back who quit playing the game on a full-time basis to focus on his banking career with FBC, said apart from football, there were also plans to have a netball competition to ensure the Payserv tournaments are all encompassing. But with no women’s league yet the FSS are using a challenge match between Mufakose Queens and Cyclone as a pilot project to entice the female players in the financial sector.
“All the competitions will be under the banner of Payserv and as an executive we have also reserved Sunday after the final as rest day so that we can really have entertainment galore on 11 November.
“But we are aiming big and we want to grow it to the levels of the inter-banks competitions. Apart from football there is also a pool competition and we are trying to ensure that we have as many disciplines as possible on the same dates with the football tournament hence we are exploring having to cater for the women who do not play football in the financial sector through netball. We want to make it big family fun days on each of the dates that the games will be played,’’ Kwangwari said.
With Payserv committing themselves to the tournament, Kwangwari and his executive were not only excited by the development but are now bracing for some close battles at the matches where some of the good talent in local football have always been found. There have numerous players who have come from the financial services sector and went on to play in the Premiership including former Sporting Lions midfielder Bothwell Mahlengwe, Mavhuto Chapani, More Moyo and the Gunners pair of Milton Mukaronda and Terrence Malunga. With a statement from the company also confirming Payserv’s commitment to bankrolling the cup tournament, momentum is now building towards finding the indent of the 2017 winners.
“Payserve Zimbabwe has renewed its pledge to continue the sponsorship of the Financial Services Sector Soccer tournament by throwing its weight behind the 2017 edition of the sporting fiesta for the fourth consecutive year. The tournament will be played in Harare on the 4th and 5th of November with the final on the 11th of November. Formerly known as the Bankers Soccer League, there was a merger with insurance companies, thus the formation of the Financial Services Paynet Cup, which Payserv has been sponsoring for the past four years. The League has over the years been producing talented soccer players who have advanced to go and play for Premiership clubs. Paynet is responsible for the electronic payments processing system which is offered to the market through Financial Institutions. With Paynet in Zimbabwe, corporates can pay creditors, salaries, collect revenue and make use of e-schedules, for a simplified data exchange and reconciliation with service providers,’’ said Payserv marketing and communications manager Patience Mapolisa.