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Geophrey Sifani Sports Reporter
BENJAMIN Dube, the father of McCarthy Dube, who is at the centre of a dispute between Highlanders and FMH of Famona, has declared that his son is a Bosso player.
McCarthy was registered during the second transfer window last month as one of the five juniors in the Bosso first team, but FMH director France Ndlovu accused an unnamed Zifa Bulawayo province board member of fraudulently registering the player for the Bulawayo giants.
Ndlovu claimed McCarthy had a running contract, which has a school fees payment clause, which expires at the end of 2016, adding that Highlanders had clandestinely registered their player.
Ndlovu said they have been paying McCarthy’s school fees at Milton High School, but Benjamin dismissed these claims saying his son’s fees was being paid by him, and he was surprised which McCarthy FMH has been paying fees for.
McCarthy is due for his O-Level exams from October.
Benjamin claimed FMH pressured his wife Qaphelisani Mlotshwa into signing the offer without reading it and in his absence, adding that she was never given a copy of the initially signed contract.
“Did FMH honour their promise to make all these claims? We’ve been paying fees for McCarthy up to now. FMH has done nothing for us and I wonder why they’re making claims that the boy is their player. They kept me and my wife in the dark and yet they make all these claims and never said a word until his promotion (into the Highlanders first team),” said Benjamin.
“What justifies their claims? They failed to honour their word. This was merely a contract on paper and as far as we’re concerned, our son plays for Highlanders. We were never contacted by FMH after the contract. They were silent up until now. My wife was made to sign the contract behind my back informally. She wasn’t given time to read it and was also not given a copy of the contract.
“FMH failed to honour it and my understanding is that if you fail to honour a contract, that’s a breach and that’s what happened in this case. For all we know, the boy has been playing for Highlanders from 2013 and we aren’t aware how he was cleared to play for them,” he said.
Benjamin said he had a feeling the FMH offer was not genuine due to the amount of pressure they put on his wife to sign it, and he did not see it until it was sent to him after being signed by Zifa.
He said in 2013, Highlanders also approached the boy and incorporated him into their juniors’ team, and they too never spoke to him.
Benjamin said Ndlovu should instead negotiate with Highlanders if FMH are still interested in the boy’s services.
He dismissed FMH’s claims that Highlanders had misled them into signing a contract with the Premiership side.
“We signed a contract with Highlanders, who promised us that the young man would get an allowance every month and we’re grateful because the club has given more than enough for the player even before the month is over and this is the only time we were brought in as parents,” said Benjamin.
Highlanders invited Benjamin and his wife to their offices last month to get their consent before promoting the youngster into the first team.
Highlanders’ chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede said McCarthy had been playing for Bosso from 2013 and can’t understand what the hullaballoo is all about.
“The boy has been playing for us from 2013 when he was junior. We’ll not comment any further on this matter. We’ll go to court to defend the case if ever summons are sent to us. Their (FMH) lawyer has written a letter to us, but we’ll wait to defend ourselves in court,” said Gumede.
FMH’s lawyer also sent a letter to Benjamin’s wife last month claiming $5,000 in compensation for McCarthy’s development and alleged breach of contract.
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