Dynamos League Title Win Sparks Debate on Zim Soccer Status
Against all odds, Dynamos pipped both Harare City and Highlanders on goal difference after the three teams all finished the season on 54 points
HARARE — Dynamos are the 2013 soccer champions but questions remain on the standards of Zimbabwean football. This was said many times in different radio stations after the popular Harare club won the 2013 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship. Against all odds, Dynamos pipped both Harare City and Highlanders on goal difference after the three teams all finished the season on 54 points after playing the maximum 30 games. However, analysts say the win by Dynamos, their third in succession, shows that Zimbabwean soccer standards are low. Former Kadoma United defender Aleck Muhoni says the continued dominance by Dynamos is not healthy for Zimbabwean football. Another football follower Langton Nyakwenda of the weekly Sunday Mail newspaper also shares the same view saying Zimbabwean club football is going down the drain. Going into the last round of matches, Harare City were favourites to win the league title but fell short after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Caps United. Harare City coach Bigboy Mawiwi, a former Dynamos team manager himself, was hurt by the turn of events. Dynamos, who will receive $70,000 for winning the league title, will now qualify to represent Zimbabwe in the 2014 Confederation of African Football’s Champions League. The last time Dynamos was in Pan African football was early this year when they were eliminated in the second round of Africa’s richest football club competition.