THE recent exchange between Highlanders FC and flamboyant businessman Wicknell Chivayo over the potential appointment of iconic former Warriors' captain Benjani Mwaruwari as head coach has been nothing short of a sporting tragedy in the making.
Highlanders' decision to politely decline an offer that included a limitless personal bank balance to foot all of Benjani's expenses, alongside a generous club sponsorship, may well be remembered as a monumental, self-inflicted mistake — a staggering act of hubris in the face of existential threat.
The just-ended Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season was a harrowing experience for the traditional "Big Three" — Highlanders, Dynamos and Caps United — as they all flirted dangerously with relegation, surviving only on the final day.
This isn't a blip; it's a terrifying trend. The league has become a financial arms race, consistently dominated by a new breed of cash-rich clubs: FC Platinum, Ngezi Platinum Stars, Simba Bhora and the 2025 champions, Scottland FC.
These clubs have emphatically demonstrated that money — brute, sustained financial muscle — can, more often than not, buy you success in football.
While the traditional giants cling to legacy, clubs with vast, non-traditional income streams are rewriting the rules.
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Highlanders, the oldest top-flight club in the country, last tasted league glory in 2006. It has been a painful 19 years.
The reality is stark: financial might is rapidly eclipsing historical pedigree. With more cash-rich teams eyeing elite status, the worrying possibility of one of the traditional giants falling into oblivion — a disaster for the national game — grows daily.
Highlanders' response, citing processes and procedures for hiring, rings hollow and self-defeating when weighed against the scale of the offer.
Chivayo wasn't merely offering a coach; he was offering a financial lifeline to secure the club's immediate future and provide a platform for long-term sustainability.
The club's purported defence, often revolving around culture and identity, crumbles under scrutiny. Highlanders have employed foreign coaches like Pieter De Jongh and Baltemar Brito in the past, yet the club's culture remained intact.
This insistence on process over progress, while staring down the barrel of relegation in your centenary year (2026), is a weak argument for professional stagnation.
Mwaruwari's value proposition was immense and multifaceted. His playing experience at top clubs like Manchester City, Portsmouth, and Auxerre would have been invaluable in helping Bosso to establish the professional structures and standards needed for future sustainability.
It is also noteworthy that he is not new to the local league, having done a decent job at Ngezi Platinum Stars. Even their subsequent league-winning coach, Takesure Chiragwi, acknowledged Benjani’s contribution to laying the foundation.
The real prize was the limitless bank balance. This guarantee, which would have enabled Highlanders to retain star players like Andrew Mbeba (already being circled by wealthy rivals) and acquire top-tier talent for the next season, was thrown away.
Chivayo's offer was not about interfering with internal club politics; it was about giving Bosso the foundation not to sink. He was seeking to honour a legacy and put a Zimbabwean legend with international exposure at the helm.
As Highlanders prepare to celebrate their centenary in 2026, a milestone year that deserves a return to glory, they have turned away the very ingredient necessary for success: a massive financial injection and professional
mentorship.
It is deeply worrying to contemplate the possibility of this great club fighting relegation — or even getting relegated — in their milestone year. They simply needed to take time, study the offer, perhaps make performance-based demands and accept the hand that was reaching out.
Kudos must still go to Chivayo for his desire to see one of the country's football giants thrive. One hopes that his commitment to support the club in other ways will remain.
But for now, Highlanders' refusal of this specific, comprehensive deal feels like a tragic act of shooting oneself in the foot.
In this modern, money-driven era of the PSL, Bosso needed Chivayo more than they realised.