BY TERRY MADYAUTA
TANZANIAN giants Simba SC are frustrated following delays by the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) to issue Perfect Chikwende’s International Transfer Certificate (ITC).
Chikwende left FC Platinum for the Tanzanian giants, but his move cannot be completed as Zifa have delayed issuing the ITC, following claims by Bulawayo Chiefs that the player belonged to them.
Bulawayo Chiefs have caused a halt in the process, arguing that FC Platinum should first give them compensation since the striker was on-loan at the Zvishavane side.
According to the Bulawayo club, his contract was supposed to expire at the end of 2020, but since there has been no football in the country, Fifa through Zifa proposed that all contracts that were due to expire last year would now be carried over.
This debacle has left the players career at a crossroads, as he now risks missing both the Champions League and Tanzanian league matches this season.
In fact, Simba SC officials are now losing patience considering their desire to have the free-scoring striker in their squad to play in the Caf Champions League group phase, where they face Al Ahly of Egypt, AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo and El Merreikh of Sudan.
While all their new signings have received all their clearance certificates, only Chikwende remains to be cleared.
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“The Zimbabwean federation has been very slow in terms of confirming and responding to this but I believe that between the next two or three days it may arrive,” Simba chief executive Barbra Gonzalez said.
“We are still waiting for the ITC to arrive, we have already completed everything on our part, especially on the network, so it is upon Zimbabwe federation to speed up the process.
“You can see with the other new players Lokosa [Junior] from Nigeria we have already received his ITC and he will now be available to play for us in both the league and Champions League.”
At this point, Zifa has implored FC Platinum and Bulawayo Chiefs to meet and settle their grievances.
“For now, we have told the clubs to discuss this issue. We haven’t received the results yet, but at the end of the day, it’s the player who is disadvantage,” Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela said.
“We are yet to intervene, but if they fail to bring results, we will find an amicable way of settling this issue. But on these issues, we encourage clubs to discuss before dragging players into the matter.”
Meanwhile, the player, Chikwende, has settled well at the club, having scored his first goal for the club in the Simba Super Cup, where they beat Al-Hilal of Sudan 4-1.
