HARARE City midfielder Phineas Bhamusi has come out on the open to reveal the cause of the problems which have seen the team, which finished as runners-up in the Premier Soccer League last year, losing their opening three matches.
TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
He was speaking to NewsDay Sport ahead of their league match against champions Dynamos, a tie which could have huge ramifications on the future of underfire coach Bigboy Mawiwi.
Bhamusi said the problems did not lie with the coach, but were as a result of divisions in the team with club secretary-general Tarisai Kwenda playing a central role.
The midfielder alleges that Kwenda has been working against Mawiwi. Bhamusi also raised allegations of bribery against the secretary-general, who have flatly dismissed them.
Chronicling the alleged events to this newspaper yesterday, Bhamusi said in the second week of their pre-season training early this year, there was an attempt to trap Mawiwi.
He said he was offered a very substantial amount of money by Kwenda which he was supposed to give to Mawiwi in return for a place in the team.
This was after alleged reports that Mawiwi was receiving money from players so that they would get preferential treatment, which Kwenda wanted exposed.
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The bone of contention, a source revealed this week, was Mawiwi’s failure to retain Godfrey Nguwodzawo and Edgar Tapela, two players who were allegedly Kwenda’s favourites.
“To me, that was very strange,” said Bhamusi. “I was asked to come and collect some money which I was supposed to go and give to the coach and say it was for him to buy a ‘drink’. The idea was that once the coach accepted the money, he would have exposed himself as someone who was in the habit of getting bribes from players. I felt it was very unprofessional and I didn’t take it.
“I told the coach about it because it has never happened to me. I felt it was unfair to treat the coach like that because our job is simply to play football. I also reasoned that they wanted to use me to settle their scores, so I refused to be involved,” added Bhamusi.
Asked for comment, Kwenda said: “I am not aware of the incident. You should talk to Bhamusi.
He should tell you everything.”
Mawiwi said he was not in a position to comment on the issue.
The Sunshine City Boys, who came close to winning last season’s championship, have endured a disastrous start to the current campaign following three successive defeats leaving them anchoring the league table.
On Sunday they face resurgent Dynamos hoping to recover from those defeats.
