Chocolates in dressing rooms, turmoil on the bench

FROM the outside, Bulawayo Chiefs is the epitome of professionalism, a well-resourced club with multiple partners on board but a closer look tells a story of a football team in turmoil if recent developments are anything to go by.

Social media pictures of the re-developed Chiefs Village (formerly Amazulu Sports Club) had owners of savvy established upmarket restaurants and bars turning green with envy.

Leather sofas, shiny glass chandeliers, fancy chairs made from the finest bamboo materials and sleek tables dotted around a spacious room with huge windows overlooking a lush green pitch greet visitors at the Chiefs Village.

It’s a little paradise situated on the periphery of Bulawayo city centre, away from the bustling and rumbling of human and vehicular traffic of the city.

We were told this was just phase one of the re-development of the facility that will serve as a one-stop centre from training grounds, club offices, a bar and restaurant as well as a ‘war room’ for the technical team to strategise the downfall of opponents.

But not everything that glitters is gold.

A Chiefs staffer curtly put it: “On Twitter and social media, everything is fine at Bulawayo Chiefs but anyone who works there, except the bosses, will tell you it’s all lies”.

The staffer’s sentiments may have been vindicated by the abrupt departure of Chiefs coach Lizwe Sweswe.

The club didn’t give reasons for the sudden departure but sources say Sweswe has not been paid for three months or so.

Another bone of contention that made his exit from Chiefs a swift affair was supposedly the club’s decision to release William Stima, Kuda Musharu and three other unnamed players without consulting Sweswe.

Away from the technical team troubles, Chiefs recently announced a deal with book publishers Dingani Bookshop, which will see every registered player receiving a US$100 voucher each month.

For parents with school going kids, stationery accounts for a significant portion of monthly expenditure so the deal will certainly come as a relief for the players with school demands.

“We are extremely thrilled this partnership also comes in to address the basic needs of our players, which normally tend to be a financial struggle for our players,” announced the club.

Whether the stationery deal, among other commitments from the club, will help pacify players rattled by the exit of Sweswe remains to be seen.

A ship without a steady captain is bound to meet the fate of the Titanic — the famed ship that sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg.

Chiefs announced the arrival of Joseph Sibindi as an assistant coach, barely 24 hours before Sweswe turned his back on the club. Sibindi, a sports scientist at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust), will now lead the team while the club look for a head coach.

Yet Sibindi isn’t exactly the go-to-guy for a team like Chiefs that has just lost a coach who grinded results home and away in the 2023 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League. In 2017, Sibindi had a brief stint with Bantu Rovers, a club formerly owned by Methembe Ndlovu but he didn’t stay long after a string of poor results.

Football fans will also remember that Sibindi tried his luck at the now defunct Tsholotsho FC where the relationship soon turned sour due to dismal results.

His recent return to Chiefs follows yet another stint in 2019, after taking over from Garthly Chipuka who had resigned.