Sheasham Football Club on Friday, 20 May wrote to ZIFA and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) requesting the postponement of their game against CAPS United scheduled for Sunday, 21 May at Mandava Stadium in Zvishavane.
This follows a week of bickering over the suspension of the refurbished Bata Stadium in Gweru, Sheasham’s home ground.
In their letter to ZIFA and PSL, the Construction Boys claimed they were incapacitated to travel to Mandava and asked for the postponement of the match.
Sheasham have played their home games at Mandava since the beginning of the season while they were working on renovating Bata Stadium.
Bata Stadium was subsequently cleared to host PSL matches by the ZIFA First Instance Board two weeks ago and they played giants Highlanders a fortnight ago.
However, the PSL wrote to them informing them that Bata had been suspended from hosting Premiership matches last week.
Sheasham chairman Reginald Chidawanyika on Friday wrote to ZIFA and PSL asking for a postponement of the match. Wrote Chidawanyika:
We hereby apply for a postponement of our match with CAPS United scheduled for Mandava Stadium on the 21st of May 2023.
The major reason for seeking the postponement is that we are unable to secure the financial resources to host the match at such short notice.
… we only have today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) to raise all the financial resources necessary for us to host CAPS United at Mandava Stadium. This is a herculean task that we cannot overcome at such short notice.
When our stadium was approved by FIB to host matches, we directed all the financial resources towards the procurement of materials to clear the outstanding works at Bata Stadium.
This was to ensure we comply with the conditions imposed by FIB within the time limits set.
Furthermore, following the approval of Bata Stadium by FIB we were now proceeding on the premise that we had a home ground for use and no longer be travelling to Mandava Stadium, hence we had not made any contingency reserves or budget to travelling to Mandava Stadium.
Secondly, the lease agreement for Mandava Stadium was short-term. We hereby quote Clause 1 of the Lease Agreement between FC Platinum and ourselves which reads, ‘The Agreement is a short-term hire running for a maximum period of two months starting on the 17th of March 2023 and ending on the 16th of May 2023 OR whenever Bata Stadium is approved, whichever date is reached first’.
A copy of the short-term Lease we had with FC Platinum is Lodged with your office. In light of the expiration of the lease and the short notice we are unable to secure Mandava Stadium as we would need to enter into another lease agreement with FC Platinum, which we cannot do within 48 hours of receipt of your letter dated 18 May 2023.
We must also emphasise that we are not defiant that the match be played at Mandava Stadium, but we are asking for a postponement of the match due to financial constraints and short notice emanating from the above chronological events.
Further to that also due to the fact that we still have to re-negotiate a new lease agreement with FC Platinum following the approval of Bata Stadium by FIB which then triggered the lapse of our short-term lease with FC Platinum.
We sincerely beseech you to consider our request as we are victims of the circumstances that we have no control over as they were largely unforeseen.
We remain determined not to bring the game of football into disrepute and we apologise for any inconvenience the request may bring to all interested parties.
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