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Harare Bureau
CAPS United have dissolved their executive and appointed a six-man board of directors in a boardroom reshuffle that club president, Twine Phiri, believes will bring financial stability and help them challenge for honours, including the league championship, next season.
The Green Machine have not won the championship, since Charles Mhlauri sealed back-to-back titles in 2005, and have lived in the shadows of their bitter rivals Dynamos who have won four league titles, including three on the trot, since Makepekepe were last crowned champions.
Caps United battled courageously this season but came out empty-handed after crashing in the semi-finals of the Mbada Diamonds Cup and coming short in the league championship race although analysts believe their cause wasn’t helped by the disruption brought about by a spate of industrial action by the players in a tough operating environment for the club.
Some of their fans believe Makepekepe would have won the championship, had their players remained focused on the mission without the disturbances caused by the financial challenges that kept stalking the club, which lost them precious points at Shabanie Mine and against Black Mambas.
Although the majority of the Premiership clubs struggled under the strain of a difficult environment, where operational funds were limited and the costs were huge, Caps United were one of the worst affected clubs and limped from one crisis to the other but, to their credit, fought a good battle for their fans.
Club president, Phiri, who is also the Premier Soccer League chief, yesterday said that Caps United had to bring in people who could help the club tap into new sources of funds, to underwrite the operational costs, and ensure the club’s campaign next season wasn’t hampered by the financial challenges that stalked them throughout this year.
The six-man board of directors will be expected to help mobilise resources for the club, come up with a vision that will help the Green Machine find its way back to success, guide the team on a path that will enhance its professionalism and make its brand attractive to sponsors once again.
While their main rivals, Dynamos and Highlanders, are both bankrolled by BancABC, which has helped bring stability to the two giants, Caps United don’t have a flagship sponsor and sourcing funds to foot the huge operational costs, against a background of declining attendance figures at their home matches, has been a complex and frustrating exercise for the club’s leadership.
BancABC pays the salaries of the DeMbare and Bosso playing staff and coaching personnel, which is their biggest chunk of operational costs, while Caps United have had to rely on well-wishers to complement the meager sums that the club derives from their gate receipts. Phiri announced yesterday that he has appointed a six-member board he hopes will help Caps United in a very big way next year.
The members of the board are prominent lawyer Lewis Uriri, who has served Caps United in a different capacities in the past, Alex Munyaka, Nhamo Tutisani, Mordecai Sachikonye, Khumbulani Mhlope and Munyaradzi Mazhande.
Mhlope is president of Sojama Economic Development Institute, a member of the Economic Development Institute of Zimbabwe and was part of the Zimbabwe delegation at the Sixth All-Africa Investment Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last month, will take care of the commercial portfolio at the club.
Uriri brings in his wealth of legal expertise, Tutisani will handle marketing; Sachikonye, a loyal Caps United son who has been the team doctor for years, will handle the technical wing, Munyaka will handle the fans and Mazhande has the mission to help this club tap into technology as part of boosting its brand.
“I have confidence that we have put in place a board, which has men of integrity, who will make a big difference at Caps United,” Phiri said yesterday.
“The board will also be expected to mobilise resources for the club and also chart the way that we have to follow as a team in our mission to compete very well, from next year, and give our fans something to cheer their spirits.
“While Caps United competed very well this year, the club didn’t grow as a brand or as a business and we hope these men whom we have tasked with helping us, to move forward, will make that difference.
“It has not been an easy season for us, we suffered because of a lack of funds, and we want to try and make sure that we will be in a very good financial position, come next year, so that we can compete at the same level with our major rivals.
“We expect to challenge for honours next season and we are targeting the league championship.”
Online Reporter