Hwange Football Club will be beefing up their squad in the next few days.
They will register midfielder Farai Vimisayi as they step up preparations for the 2012 Caf Confederation Cup.
The coal miners have made it into the top four best teams in the 2011 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL). That gives them a ticket to represent the country in the continental competition.
They have since confirmed participation. Chipangano have until November 30 — the deadline for team registration by Caf — to have their full contingent of players to participate in the Confederation Cup.
Club secretary Burzil Dube yesterday confirmed Hwange will be beefing up their squad although he said they will be looking mostly at their juniors to avoid the embarrassment of registering outside players, without negotiating with their clubs.
“We are looking at the juniors in particular because we don’t want be other like other clubs, who have in the past registered players without talking to their clubs.
We are definitely registering Vimisayi. He is our player and has been on loan to Dynamos. He is playing his last game for Dynamos on Sunday.
I talked to him last night (Tuesday),” Dube said. Vimisayi was at the centre of a dispute between Hwange and Dynamos in 2009 when the latter registered the lanky midfielder for the Caf Champions League without negotiating with the coal miners. He was, however, subsequently loaned to DeMbare.
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Dube is, however, quoted in the Hwange Colliery Company website saying the club would be scouting locally and into the region to beef up their squad ahead of the continental tournament.
“We will definitely look around locally and even venture into the region as we seek to beef up the current squad, so that by the time we start playing in Africa, we will be having a well-oiled unit capable of leaving a lasting impression,” Dube said.
Captain Gerald Ndlovu, Nkosana Siwela, Aaron Katebe, Kennedy Kashema, Andrew Tshuma, Gilbert Zulu, Rodwell Chinyengetere, goalkeepers Timothy Sibanda and Petros Mhari, are some of the players in the Hwange squad.
Dube said Hwange will also be organising two friendly matches with top clubs from Zambia and would be participating in a tournament in South Africa, organised by a mining equipment supplier in that country.
He confirmed the friendly matches and the South Africa tournament on the website.
“We will be playing two friendly matches with top teams from Zambia. Coach (Tennant) Chilumba is in the process of talking to the clubs.
“Yes, I can confirm the team will play in a tournament being organised by a leading South African mining equipment supplier with another Zimbabwean side and two other top teams, one from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the host nation.
“We hope this will be a suitable platform to gauge ourselves and prove our mettle as a club. But we are still working on the logistics, because we have to be cleared by Zifa, the PSL and the SRC (Sports and Recreational Council),” Dube said.
