Caps United raked in $200 000 following their sale of three players who clinched deals in Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Tunisia.
By Kevin Mapasure
Despite the windfall, the Green Machine has struggled to pay its players, with three months’ salary still in arrears.
The biggest pay cheque for Caps United came from the sale of Abbas Amidu, who moved to Saudi Arabia’s Club Al Wehdah for about $80 000, while Ronald Pfumbidzai, who recently signed for Bloemfontein Celtic, fetched $60 000, with the sale of attacker Ronald Chitiyo fetching the same amount.
It is the sale of the said players that caused trouble in the Caps United camp this week ahead of the big Harare derby against Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium.
The players, whose salary arrears run into three months — in addition to winning bonuses — had been promised that they dues would be settled from the proceeds of the sales.
But weeks after some of the deals had gone through, the players were still to be paid.
They demanded their dues and the club management had to deposit one month’s salary into their yesterday’s accounts for them to agree to take part in yesterday’s afternoon training session. Caps United had a descent run in the Caf Champions League, where they qualified and played in the group stage.
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The Green Machine knocked out Lioli of Lesotho and TP Mazembe to qualify to the group stage of the competition, where they were pooled against Zamalek, USM Alger and Al Ahli Tripoli. The Lloyd Chitembwe-coached side managed two wins against Zamalek and USM Alger at home where the trio played well.
Despite their defeat to Al Ahli Tripoli away from home, both Chitiyo and Pfumbidzai scored in the match.
Amidu scored a memorable brace against Zamalek at the National Sports Stadium, which might have triggered interest from a host of teams.
The striker was particularly in demand from clubs in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco before he settled for the Saudi
Arabia move, which has proved to be a lucrative deal for both the player and Caps United.
Caps have faced financial challenges, which came following their participation in the Caf Champions League, where they had to make three trips to North Africa following the travels to Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Maseru in the preliminary and first round qualifiers.
