Raymond Jaravaza
FC Platinum will be officially crowned 2021-2022 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions in November but sadly that will be the end of the road for the local champions-in-waiting.
For the first time since the inception of the modern day Premier Soccer League in 1993 as an autonomous body from the Zimbabwe Football Association, the country will not be represented at the CAF Champions League.
The story is all well too documented.
The FIFA ban on Zimbabwe from all international football because of government interference is a story that every football fan is familiar with.
The champions-in-waiting will receive their championship trophy on the last match of the season when they host Cranborne Bullets at Mandava Stadium, a match that is likely to be played on November 12.
FC Platinum will be crowned champions for the fourth time after clinching the league titles in 2017, 2018, 2019 and now 2022.
The league was not played in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
PSL spokesperson Kudzai Bare confirmed that the platinum miners will be presented with the league trophy on Match Day 34.
“We will do the trophy presentation on the final day of the matches; that is Match Day 34,” Bare said.
The celebrations will end there for the champions as the prospect of playing continental football is all but a pipe dream.
B-Metro Sport took to the streets to ask fans how they felt about the country not being represented in the African safari.
“If our football leaders had the game at heart, they would put their house in order so that our teams and players are not affected by their actions. Right now, the FC Platinum coaches should have been looking at their current squad to see where they can make improvements so that the team performs well in the CAF Champions League,” said Ngqabutho Ngulube of Mahatshula suburb.
Musa Mloyi’s heart bleeds for young players who will lose out on opportunities to shine in the CAF Champions League and attract the attention of foreign clubs.
“I’m a Highlanders supporter but a huge fan of a young player from FC Platinum called Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya and I can imagine that if he got a chance to play in the Champions League, teams from South Africa or even Egypt would definitely sign him,” said Mloyi.
The FC Platinum youngster Ngwenya has scored nine goals so far in the PSL campaign and is among the top-goal scorers dominated by veteran players, some who are even 10 years older than him.
Last week, Zimbabwe international Marshall Munetsi also weighed in on the country’s suspension from international football, saying it had cast a shadow over the future of the sport and stunted the growth of its players.
“This ban has affected young players who have an ambition to be like me by coming to Europe. It’s playing for my national team that gave me the opportunity to play against big countries and big players.
“It’s something that is sad and frustrating for us as a country, and for players,” the Reims midfielder Munetsi told BBC Sport Africa.
