Trouble in paradise…Manica Diamonds feel the heat

29 May, 2020 - 00:05 0 Views
Trouble in paradise…Manica Diamonds feel the heat Shingi Nhunzvi

The ManicaPost

Ray Bande Senior Reporter
DESPERATION is increasing with each passing day in Castle Lager Premiership Manica Diamonds’ camp as players are now getting into their fourth month without salaries.

Since February, Manica Diamonds’ players have been waiting for their salaries in vain.

While Manica Diamonds have failed to cater for the players’ welfare, ostensibly due to the Covid-19 lockdown, fellow Mutare outfit and Premiership newboys, Tenax FC, have managed to pay their players’ salaries in full, perhaps because most of their players are contracted under Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services as full time employees.

Second tier league club, Mutare City Rovers, who have made no secret of their intention to regain their top-flight league status at the end of the season, have also managed to pay players’ salaries. The salaries are only one month in arrears.

Another Eastern Region Division One outfit, Buffaloes, who have a new club executive to run the day-to-day affairs of the club, have also managed to cushion their players from the effects of the Covid-19 national lockdown, which has seen football matches being put on hold.

But just like Tenax FC, most of Buffaloes FC’s players are attached to the Zimbabwe National Army as full-time employees, hence their capacity to pay the salaries.

The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company is the principal sponsor of Manica Diamonds FC.

Sources within the Manica Diamonds’ camp confided in Post Sport that players are struggling to make ends meet. They revealed that complaints are now the order of the day in the players’ social media groups.

Even the online training sessions that were purportedly being monitored by coach Johanisi Nhumwa are now a big challenge given the high costs of data bundles.

Post Sport has it on good authority that some of the players who were renting in Mutare have since gone back to their different home areas, including Hwange, Harare, Bulawayo, Bindura and Chegutu.

“This is really not fair. Football is our source of livelihood. We depend on our salaries and bonuses. How do they think (management at the club) we are surviving?” said a disgruntled player who preferred anonymity for fear of reprisal.

“We know that things are not normal and that we are not playing because of Covid-19, but the club’s leadership must have a heart and avail something so that our families can survive,” he said. Another player who also spoke on condition of anonymity chipped in, “If you were part of our social media groups you would see the desperation and anger of the players. People are not happy at all.

We are not saying give us all our salaries, no, they should at least show that they are concerned. Instead we are only getting empty promises.”

Manica Diamonds secretary general, Shingi Nhunzvi said they are aware of the plight of the players. He said efforts are being made for the players to get their dues.

“This is something we are seized with as club management. We are aware of the plight of our players and we are doing all that we can to ensure that they get what is due to them.

“Covid-19 has affected the entire globe and Manica Diamonds are not an exception. We are bound to be affected too, but we sincerely hope the situation will normalise soon. As we speak, something to cushion them might be sorted this week,” he said.

Nhunzvi stressed that the Manica Diamonds project is meant to be self sustainable at some point in order to eliminate such hiccups.

World over, players from big clubs have had to take pay cuts while others have gone without salaries since the beginning of the year.

In Zimbabwe, where gate takings during football matches are a major source of income for clubs, big clubs have also been reeling under the effects of Covid-19, with giants such as Caps United reportedly struggling to pay their players during the ongoing lockdown.

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