By Alwyn Mabehla
Legendary former Zimbabwe national team captain Ephraim Chawanda has challenged administrators of the game to serve the interests of footballers.
The ex-Zimbabwe Saints defender, who was the guest of honour at the 2016 Soccer Stars of the Year awards was speaking on the side-lines of the ceremony in Harare last Friday.
This comes as the league’s main sponsors Delta Beverages, through their Castle Lager brand, announced that they might be cutting ties with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) when their three-year deal comes to an end this month.
“Administrators shouldn’t be selfish and they should serve footballers first.
“Those boys who you see, are the real owners of the game, they deserve to get better deals so that they have something to fall back on when they eventually retire,” Chawanda said.
“We wouldn’t want to hear this player played for this club and now look at him. It is not good.
“We should be having these guys (administrators) coming in and giving them good deals not what we have today,” he said.
Delta Beverages marketing director Maxen Karombo, on the night, revealed that his organisation was mulling not extending the current deal with the PSL because the league did not have a substantive chairman running its affairs.
The current deal was brokered by former CAPS United president Twine Phiri when he was still at the helm of the PSL.
If the PSL fails to put its house in order within the next three months and renegotiate with Delta Beverages or find other prospective sponsors then, just like in 2010, next year’s league will run unbranded.
The now defunct Motor Action, who won the league then, received no prize money for all their efforts. Daily News
