the herald
Tadious Manyepo –Sports journalist
AFTER putting a marker on their growing status as one of the biggest teams in the country, Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions FC Platinum are praying that Zimbabwe’s FIFA suspension is lifted in time so that they can participate in the CAF Champions League next year.
The country is suspended indefinitely by world football’s governing body, with the latter demanding that Zimbabwe rejoin the ZIFA executive led by Felton Kamambo for the country to be readmitted into the international football family.
This means that FC Platinum, who won their fourth consecutive league title in the just-concluded season, will not be able to play in the CAF Champions League in case FIFA maintain their position.
The Bulawayo chiefs, who won the Chibuku Super Cup on Sunday, also have the right to represent the country in the CAF Confederation Cup, but that could also remain a pipe dream for the ambitious Bulawayo side.
FC Platinum have played in the CAF Champions League four times, with platinum miners Zvishavane reaching the group stages twice while failing as many times in the second round.
But, they are convinced that they will go beyond the group stages if they have the chance to participate in the next edition of the tournament.
FC Platinum vice-chairman Evans Mutombeni told the Herald that the Miners will dominate the local scene for many years to come, but for now their focus is on the CAF Champions League.
“I think as FC Platinum we have managed to demystify the idea that only Harare and Bulawayo teams are capable of dominating local football cycles.
“I think we are now one of the big four teams in this country right now. At some point, all the cups were fought over in the local landscape. We are talking about the Chibuku Super Cup, the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Trophy and the Castle Lager Challenge Cup.
“It shows you how we have taken giant steps to become one of the biggest clubs in this country.
“The vision of FC Platinum has always been to be an elite and leading club in Africa. We would like to start making progress in the CAF Champions League, but at the moment we don’t know what will happen. happen as the country is still suspended from participating in international football,” Mutombeni said.
“We just hope that when the continental club competitions start in May or June next year, we would have been re-admitted to the international football community.
“We have already participated twice in the group stages and we are looking to improve that when we participate again, which will probably be next year.
Mutombeni has revealed his executive has offered a position which will see the club have an average age of 24.
The club dispatched a few old war horses earlier this year, including Kelvin Madzongwe, Silas Songani and Rahman Kutsanzira.
But, they were able to retain over 90% of the squad that did their duty in 2019 and that proved crucial in a campaign where they faced teams like Dynamos, who had only managed to retain two players. , Emmanuel Jalai and Patson Jaure, from their 2019 team.
“At our last strategy meeting, we agreed that we should continue to look for young players. We need a team whose players are all under 27.
“We have also agreed to improve our impetus on youth development in terms of our Under-15s and others. “We also have our Under-19 team playing in ZIFA Central Region Division 1 where we have been extracting talent and also feeding into the overall Zimbabwe football system.
“The continental club championships are very different from local football. There is so much quality up there and the secret is the same, most of these highly competitive teams value continuity,” Mutombeni said.