Sidumisile Mabena
Lovemore Dube
ZIMBABWE Premier Soccer League side, Ngezi Platinum Stars Football Club has lost its final appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with the tribunal confirming that the club terminated former head coach Benjani Mwaruwari without just cause.
In an award dated 23 February 2026, CAS dismissed the club’s appeal in case CAS 2025/A/11286 and upheld an earlier ruling by Fifa’s Players’ Status Chamber ordering the Zimbabwean club to pay US$570,000 in compensation, plus five percent interest from 14 March 2024 until payment is made.
The arbitration was heard by sole arbitrator Andrew Mercer of the United Kingdom. Ngezi was represented by Lyrique Du Plessis and Eben Koen of BDP Attorneys, Cape Town.
Mwaruwari was represented by Ndabezinhle Nyathi of Touchwood Intermediaries Oy, Helsinki, Finland while Fifa was represented by senior legal counsel Roberto Najera Reyes.
The arbitrator found that the club failed to challenge Fifa’s jurisdiction during the original proceedings and could not raise that objection for the first time on appeal
CAS confirmed the finding that the contract had been terminated without just cause.
In addition to the compensation award, Ngezi was ordered to bear the full costs of the arbitration and contribute towards the coach’s legal expenses.
There is no further sporting appeal available after CAS.
With CAS having confirmed Fifa’s decision in full, the matter now shifts from legal argument to regulatory compliance.
Failure to satisfy confirmed financial awards may trigger sporting sanctions, including transfer and registration bans, until payment is made as has previously happened in the case of Highlanders and Baltemar Brito where the club was temporarily banned from transfers.
The ruling follows a separate Fifa decision in August 2024 of awarding compensation to Mwaruwari’s former assistant coach Bongani Mafu.
Online Reporter