GWERU – In many football leagues worldwide, walkovers are becoming a thing of the past.
Not in Zimbabwe, where the country’s football mother body, ZIFA, is reluctant to fully enforce Club Licensing regulations.
It comes after the Premier Soccer League (PSL) newcomers, Kwekwe United, failed to fulfil their Match Day seven home fixture against Herentals at Bata Stadium in Gweru on Easter Monday.
“The Premier Soccer League wishes to advise its stakeholders that the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match between Kwekwe United FC and Herentals FC, which was scheduled to be played today, Monday 21 April 2025 at Bata Stadium, did not take place.
“We await the official match reports on this matter for determination in accordance with the PSL Rules and Regulations. The PSL regrets any inconvenience caused to its members, stakeholders and partners.
“A detailed statement will be provided in due course as soon as all relevant match reports are received,” PSL confirmed.
Herentals showed up at the match venue, took to the field, but their opponents were nowhere to be found.
Kwekwe United players refused to take to the field in protest over unpaid wages.
This forced the referee to blow the final whistle recording the game as a walkover.
As per the football rules and regulations, the Students are expected to be awarded three points and three goals.
The embarrassing development exposes ZIFA’s delay in enforcing Club Licensing standards despite having recruited a dedicated Club Licensing Manager in 2024.
According to the rules, all clubs must demonstrate sufficient financial capacity before being certified by ZIFA to compete in the country’s top flight league.
One wonders if ZIFA licenced Kwekwe United or any club playing in the 2025 PSL went through the licensing process to be certified as financially healthy to participate in the league.
The club already showed clear signs of a financial crisis before the season began, with rumours the team had no sponsor.
The first sign of trouble came on Match Day one when the club reportedly failed to pay referees’ match fees, reportedly an amount of US$840, excluding transport.
The situation has now escalated to failure to fulfil fixtures, tarnishing the league’s credibility.
Kwekwe United’s match day 6 tie against ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga kicked off 30 minutes late when the team arrived late after staging similar protests for unpaid dues before leaving for Kariba.
Although they eventually made the trip, they were thrashed 5-0.
Under the guidance of veteran coach Saul Chaminuka, Kwekwe United’s future in the league currently hangs in balance.
Strict implementation of club licensing to assess club’s capability to last the season, could help in predicting avoiding the dilemma that the league has founds itself in just 7 games into the season.
