PSL sets Castle Lager Award regulations

The Premier Soccer League yesterday announced regulations for the Delta Beverages sponsored Castle Lager PSL Awards (“Castle Soccer Stars”),  a Premier Soccer League (PSL) event incorporated within the PSL.

Below are some of the Awards Categories

1. Player of the Month
2. Coach of the Month
3. Footballer of the Year, 1st Runner Up and 2nd Runner Up
4. Footballers of the Year (8 finalists)
5. Coach of the Year
6. Goalkeeper of the Year
7. Most Promising U-20 Player of the Year
8. Referee of the Year, 1st Runner Up and 2nd Runner Up
9. Top Goal Scorer of the Year
10. Most Disciplined Team

Eligibility of Players / Coaches

The eligibility criteria shall be as follows;

1. a) All players or coaches must be registered by the Zimbabwe Football Association and Premier Soccer League for that particular season and be subject to its jurisdiction.
2. b) All players or coaches shall be eligible for selection if they satisfy the disciplinary and selection criteria defined within these regulations.
3. c) A player or coach must participate in at least ten (10) Castle Lager Premier Soccer League official matches to be eligible for selection for the Castle Soccer Stars end of year awards
4. d) A player or coach must participate in at least one (1) Castle Lager Premier Soccer League official match for the particular month(s) under consideration to be eligible for selection for the Castle Soccer Stars monthly award.

Disciplinary Criteria

1. a) Any player that accumulates a total of ten (10) or more disciplinary points in Castle Lager Premier Soccer League official matches within a single season will be ineligible for selection.
2. b) A coach that is expelled from the technical area five (5) or more times Castle Lager Premier Soccer League official matches within a single season will be ineligible for selection.
3. c) For the avoidance of doubt the following disciplinary points system shall apply;
4. An expulsion (red card) in an official Castle Lager PSL match shall be equal to two (2) disciplinary points.
5. A single yellow card accumulated in each official Castle Lager PSL match shall be equal to a one (1) disciplinary point.
6. d) Any player or coach who is convicted by the Zimbabwe Football Association or relevant regulatory body of any doping or match fixing offence shall be in-eligible for selection.

Panel of selectors

The panel of selectors is encouraged to nominate deserving footballers. Panel of selectors who are eligible for selection may vote for themselves. In addition the panel is notably encouraged to consider players and coaches who respect the spirit of fair play and non-violence. The panel of selectors shall consist of the following:

1. a) Current sixteen (16)PSL club captains
2. b) Current sixteen (16) PSL head coaches
3. c) Thirty three (33) selected sports media journalists.

No proxy votes shall be allowed.

Selection Process

All voting will be overseen by the PSL and Delta Beverages including their associated partners. A selected panel of experts which comprises of Sports Media Editors, representatives of the Footballers Association of Zimbabwe and football experts will be led by a convenor in observing the voting process. In addition the following shall apply;

1. a) The Castle Soccer Stars end of year awards will be decided by an electronic vote.
2. b) The Castle Soccer Stars monthly awards will be decided by a physical ballot vote. PSL and Delta Beverages reserve the right to extend the electronic voting procedure to the monthly awards. A monthly award shall be awarded for a particular month if three (3) or more rounds of matches have been played otherwise it shall be combined with the succeeding month.
3. c) Each member of the panel of selectors is entitled to one vote and all votes will be made public.

1. d) The eleven Castle Soccer Stars (8 Footballers of the Year finalists and top three) will be players with the highest number of votes at the completion of the first round voting process.
2. e) The top three Castle Soccer Stars (Footballer of the Year, 1st Runner Up and 2nd Runner Up)will then be selected from among the shortlisted eleven using a selectors defined points system as follows:
3. The player voted as option one shall be awarded 5 points
4. The player voted as option two shall be awarded 3 points
5. The player voted as option three shall be awarded 1 point

The player with the highest number of points is the Footballer of the Year, the player with the second highest points is the 1st Runner Up and the player with the third highest points is the 2nd Runner Up.

1. f) The Coach of the Year will be decided by the highest number of votes at the close of the Coach of the Year voting category.
2. g) The Goalkeeper of the Year will be decided by the highest number of votes at the close of the Goalkeeper of the Year voting category.
3. h) The Most promising Under 20 Player of the Year will be decided by the highest number of votes at the close of the Most promising Under 20 Player of the Year voting category.
4. i) In case of a tie that fails to separate the defined winner(s) in any of the end of year awards then another round of voting will be conducted until such ties are resolved.
5. j) The Referee of the Year, 1st and 2nd Runner Up will be selected independently by the ZIFA Referees Committee.
6. k) The Top Goal Scorer of the Year award will be awarded to the player with highest number of goals end the end of the season.
7. l) The Most Disciplined Team award will be awarded to the team with the least cumulative points at the end of the season. This will be the total of the PSL Disciplinary judgements or standing order fines points system including the red and yellow cards disciplinary point’s criteria contained in these regulations.

1. m) The final results of the end of year voting process shall be kept secret until the date of the awards ceremony. Only PSL and Delta Beverages shall be privileged to this information.
2. n) The collating and counting of votes for the monthly award votes will be done by a committee comprising of the Premier Soccer League Secretariat and Delta Beverages including their associated partners.
3. o) In the event that there is a tie in the monthly award votes, the award will be shared by the tied winners.
4. p) The decisions of the voting process are final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Protests

For the purpose of these regulations, protests are objections of any kind related to events or matters that have a direct effect on the Castle Soccer Stars awards, including but not limited to the selection process and eligibility of selectors, players or coaches.

1. a) Protests of any nature including the eligibility of selectors, players and coaches shall be submitted to the Premier Soccer League Chief Executive Officer at least 48 hours before the selection date.
2. b) Protests regarding the selection process or eligibility of selectors, players and coaches shall be decided by the Premier Soccer League and Delta Beverages.

Other

1. a) The PSL in consultation with Delta Beverages reserves the right to cancel this selection process at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control. In the event of any such cancellation or suspension, a technical failure or any other malfunction with the electronic voting system, the PSL reserves the right to arrange for the winners to be decided by a contingency arrangement.

1. b) The PSL and its partners shall not be held liable for any such cancellation.
2. c) Those taking part in this selection process are deemed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them.