HARARE businessman Sharif Mussa is targeting a significant stake in Castle Premiership side Caps United, which would see him replace outgoing vice-president Farai Jere as one of the directors.
REPORT BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
The former Warriors manager enjoys a good relationship with Caps United president Twine Phiri.
He also gets along very well with Jere who, however, quit the club a week ago citing frustration over poor performance by the team.
Although Phiri could not be reached for comment yesterday, sources said he was holding meetings with Mussa.
“From what we have gathered, Mussa is set to come in as one of the directors at Caps United. There was a meeting that was supposed to be held between Sharif Mussa and Phiri over the possibility of him coming on board.
“Mussa has a passion for the game. He has experience in football and is also a respected businessman. But for him to join Caps United it will also depend on Jere because he is the man who has the shares that are on offer,” said the sources.
Initially, Jere had a 25% stake in CAPS United which was set to increase to around 45% earlier this year after he injected a substantial amount of money towards the running of the club and the signing on of a number of players since he joined the club in 2004.
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Media reports have estimated Jere’s investment at $1,4 million to date.
When contacted for comment, Mussa said: “I have not been briefed about the nature of the investment so it will be premature for me to say anything at this point in time.”
Jere referred all questions to Phiri who was not reachable.
In August this year, Mussa was linked with a move to Caps United where he was set to assume the role of team manager as the Green Machine sought to halt a poor run under the guidance of manager Sean Connor and assistant coach Lloyd Chitembwe.
Mussa was the manager of the Warriors until February when coach Norman Mapeza was suspended over his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scam, now known as Asiagate.
Mussa was, however, not fingered in the scam, but still found himself out of the Warriors technical team set up.
Caps United had a disappointing season after finishing on 10th position on the league table with a paltry 39 points, having fought relegation for the better part of the season.
With bitter rivals Dynamos enjoying another memorable season after back-to-back league titles after beating challengers Highlanders to the finishing line in a very close race on Sunday, a lot will be expected from the Green Machine next season.
Caps have not reached the heights of the double-winning sides of 2004 and 2005 under Charles Mhlauri and a massive sale of players to Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa did not help matters either.
Jere told our sister paper, The Standard on Sunday: “In 2009, CAPS had eight players that won the Cosafa Cup for Zimbabwe, but the team was this season fighting relegation. Remember we had players such as Method Mwanjali, Edmore Sibanda, Tafadzwa Rusike and Nyasha Mushekwi in that team.
“I have done everything for CAPS, but results have not been coming. The players are well-paid. They get US$500 as winning bonuses while players from other teams get US$150. CAPS is a big club and it has a club house. I am asking myself what we should do. I’m stuck.”
