BARRING late, unforeseen challenges, the Castle Lager Premiership match between Dynamos and leaders Ngezi Platinum will be under floodlights at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.
Dynamos, who must win at all costs, want the potential title decider to attract as many people as possible during midweek and hence the request to have a 6pm kick off.
The Glamour Boys have approached the Premier Soccer League with a formal request.
The club’s chief executive officer Jonathan Mashingaidze yesterday said the request to play under the lights was driven by the quest to enhance attendance and boost club coffers.
“We have sat down as a club and resolved to request the PSL to have the game played in the evening.
“This is by all means a big game and, considering the costs involved in arranging a game of this magnitude, we felt it did not make business sense to play in the afternoon when most of our supporters are still caught up at work and unable to attend.
“Mind you this is midweek. Most of our football games are loss-making initiatives and it’s even worse when we play in the middle of the week.
“So, this is where we are coming from, and also considering that there are bills and levies to pay for stadium hire, ambulance, security personnel and ZRP, the ZIFA levies, SRC levies, players’ dues and so forth.
“There are so many overheads involved and clubs are usually left with 30 percent of the gross revenue or so.
“Because of that we wrote to the PSL and the Sports and Recreation Commission on October 14. We also had some contacts with ZETDC who guaranteed uninterrupted power supply in the evening.
“But we are still to agree with the PSL. The bottom line is that we want as many people as possible to come and enjoy the match.
“Such games push the profile of the clubs and have the potential to enhance the football brand in Zimbabwe. So we are praying that PSL will hear our case,” said Mashingaidze.
Dynamos and Ngezi played a five-goal thriller under the floodlights at the National Sports in June 2017 with the Glamour Boys edging their rivals 3-2. The duel was ranked as one of the most entertaining matches that season, with Cameroonian Joel Christian Epoupa making the difference after grabbing the winner with less than 10 minutes of regulation time remaining.
Denver Mukamba, who now plays cameos, is the only remaining player at Dynamos to feature in that blockbuster clash while Ngezi Platinum Stars still have utility man Qadr Amini.
The platinum miners currently lead the log standings with 54 points and are poised to land their first league title if they maintain focus. They managed to spring back from the disappointing 0-1 loss to championship contenders FC Platinum the previous weekend, when they beat Chicken Inn 1-0 on Saturday.
The win gave them an eight-point cushion at the top, ahead of FC Platinum. They are 11 points ahead of DeMbare, who have a game in hand.
Dynamos coach Genesis Mangombe, however, believes the Glamour Boys still have a chance in the race.
“The title challenge is there for everyone,” said Mangombe, in the wake of their 0-1 defeat to Herentals in their last outing.
“Some of the teams involved lost points and even the margin is not big but it needs people with character who can work on it and pull themselves up after a loss like this.
“So we are going to psych the boys and tell them we still have a chance to fight for the championship.”
“The good thing that the boys are doing is that they are playing possession football but we need to be clinical at the end of the day.
“It’s one thing we need to work on, especially at training.”
Fixtures:
Tomorrow: GreenFuel v Highlanders (GreenFuel), FC Platinum v Black Rhinos (Mandava), Chicken Inn v ZPC Kariba (Luveve), Sheasham v Triangle (Bata), Simba Bhora v CAPS United (Baobab), Dynamos v Ngezi Platinum Stars (National Sports Stadium), Hwange v Herentals (Colliery)
Thursday: Cranborne Bullets v Bulawayo Chiefs (National Sports Stadium). Yadah FC V Manica Diamonds (Baobab)
Herald
