PSL CEO Thabe Acknowledges LuckyBets Partnership as Key Step Towards League Growth and Professionalism
By Luckybets Media Team
Premier Soccer League Chief Executive Officer Rodwell Thabe has described the LuckyBets Player of the Match partnership as an important step towards achieving the league’s long-term vision of building a sustainable, competitive and professional football ecosystem in Zimbabwe.
Speaking about the partnership, Thabe said the PSL’s vision is to become “the leading self-sustaining and competitive league that transforms lives,” adding that the league believes it is steadily moving towards that objective.
“The Premier Soccer League vision is to be the leading self-sustaining and competitive league that transforms life and we are on the path to achieving that vision,” said Thabe.
“The last two years and the last couple of years has seen a surge in the interest of football. Spectators have been coming to the stadium and we are happy to announce that the league seems to be on course to attaining its mission and achieving this long-term vision.”
The PSL officially partnered with LuckyBets on 12 May 2026 to introduce the LuckyBets Player of the Match award across Castle Lager Premier Soccer League fixtures.
Under the initiative, standout performers in every league match receive a US$200 cash prize after being selected through a structured voting system conducted by accredited PSL journalists covering each game.
Thabe believes the partnership directly aligns with the PSL’s broader ambitions of sustainability, professionalism and commercial growth.
“The PSL aims to build a business model that is anchored on sustainability, professionalism and commercial expansion,” he explained.
“Our vision is closely related to issues of transforming the league into a modern football business ecosystem that is driven by a high competitive spirit.”
“When we looked at LuckyBets, I believe that we share similar values of competitiveness and for me this makes this partnership a perfect fit as our values seem to lock into the values that are espoused by LuckyBets.”
The PSL boss also emphasized the importance of player recognition and motivation, saying rewarding outstanding performances can help improve the overall standard and competitiveness of the league.
“You know the theory of motivation has always said that when you have a rewards and recognition system it highly motivates participants,” said Thabe.
“So we expect to see our participants being highly motivated. We expect to see a high competitive spirit that is fair and contributes to the growth of the entire football ecosystem.”
“But most importantly we are happy now that our football players are able to be rewarded with this Man of the Match award.”
Thabe also explained how the Player of the Match winners are selected, stressing that the process is designed to remain fair, credible and transparent.
“It’s a voting system where at every match we have a panel of verified PSL journalists who are accredited,” he said.
“These journalists act as our expert panels. They give us their opinions in terms of a vote and we must be aware as supporters and administrators that issues of voting are based on one’s expertise and one’s opinions, so there will obviously be divergent views.”
“But we are confident that with the numbers that we have in each stadium we will be able to collect these divergent views into one common view that will give us the Man of the Match for each match.”
“So the system is fair, it is credible and above all it is transparent for all to see.”
“When the votes are collected they are exposed for all, accounted in the public opinion and the Man of the Match is announced and rewarded instantly.”
Since its introduction during Matchday 13 fixtures, the LuckyBets Player of the Match initiative has already recognised several standout performers across the league and continues to add excitement, recognition and professionalism to PSL matchdays.
