BY FORTUNE MBELE
WARRIORS and Highlanders striker Prince Dube left the country on Saturday for Tanzania where he is set to undergo medicals at his new club Azam FC. Highlanders chief executive Nhlanhla Dube confirmed Prince’s departure.
“Prince Mpumelelo Dube flew to Dar es Salaam yesterday afternoon to meet with Azam FC Limited to go through standard medicals as part of the ongoing conversations about the possible transfer to the Tanzania side,” Dube said.
Prince has reportedly agreed a two-year contract with the Tanzanian giants where he will hook up with fellow-countrymen Bruce Kangwa and Never Tigere.
Meanwhile, the club has reiterated coach Mark Harrison’s return to coach Highlanders will depend on an improvement in the club’s financial position.
That is not likely any time soon due to COVID-19 pandemic on business globally with the Bulawayo giants having lost their sponsorship from giant cellular network provider NetOne. Highlanders chairman Kenneth Mhlophe on Friday commented on the issue.
“Like I said when Mark Harrison left, if our finances improve, definitely he is going to come back. That is exactly what I said when he left,” Mhlophe said.
NetOne was responsible for paying the club’s technical team and players, with the foreign currency portion of Harrison’s salary believed to have been paid by well-wishers in the diaspora.
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During the pandemic, the club has been relying on well-wishers, club members and fans, dotted around the world.
NetOne had reportedly paid sponsorship for the whole year, which Dube said has been eroded by inflation.
Harrison reportedly would not take a pay cut and packed his bags and left for the United Kingdom in May, saying he had made concessions with the club.
“I met with the club. We discussed the situation. We have agreed that for now I return to the UK and meet my family and wait to see what happens next. We don’t know when we will play football. It’s a very difficult situation and I have agreed to a deal with the club and I am going to the UK now. It’s not easy; its not something that we wanted,” Harrison said back then.
He, however, refused to comment on the financial implications of the agreement with Highlanders.Mandla Mpofu and Bekithemba Ndlovu are in charge.
