adminRobson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
MOSES CHUNGA says his players went through hell to secure a Premiership ticket for Hippo Valley this year and they will not just let their sweat and tears be wasted by heartless administrators who have no sense of historic success stories when they are written.Chunga told The Herald yesterday that they will not just watch, and see those who have power dissolve the Hippo Valley franchise but he will now lead a group of people, who include his players and technical staff, in fighting to get the Chiredzi community to take ownership of the franchise.
Hippo Valley sponsors Tongaat Hulett, announced this week that the club would not take its place in the Premiership, despite winning the Zifa Eastern Region Division One league, and its franchise would be dissolved with some players being given clearances to join clubs of their choice, while others join Triangle.
The sponsors said the cost of running just one Premiership club was very high and, in an environment where the company wasn’t performing as well as the management wanted, they could not afford running two teams in the top-flight league.
But Chunga, who guided Hippo Valley back into the Premiership, has reacted angrily and says he will lead a coalition of players, his backroom staff and community leaders to try and take control of the franchise and ensure that the team plays in the Premiership next season.
“Hippo Valley is a team that represents Chiredzi and if the company that was sponsoring the team says that it can’t afford to do that anymore, then the people of Chiredzi, the businesses that operate in Chiredzi should come forward and take ownership of the team,” said Chunga.
“That is what we want to do and we have called everyone who is interested in our project to come to Chishamiso Stadium, our home ground, tomorrow (today) where the Sylvia Dube Cup final will be held and we can then join hands and put our plan into motion.
“We want to bring in the Member of Parliament of the area, we want to bring in the banks that operate in the area, we want to bring in the businessmen who are here and we also want to bring in anyone who is interested so that we have a truly community team that belongs to Chiredzi.
“This town has waited for years, more than 30 years, to have a team in the Premier League and when we give it one, some people, even without consulting us, go ahead and announce that we won’t be playing in the Premier League, we won’t accept that.
“We might have been their employees but they lacked respect in the way they handled this issue because they needed to tell us first, surprisingly the same people who were telling me to go and recruit more players to strengthen the team for the Premier League are the ones who are telling the country that Hippo Valley won’t play in the Premier League next year.”
Chunga also gave The Herald an insight into their season, claiming that they were not treated like professionals by their employers with some players getting as little as US$156 a month in salaries and living in conditions that were not consistent with Division One players.
“If you look at the living conditions of the players, the houses where they were staying, and what they were earning, it’s not something that you expect in Division One, it’s something that is maybe for the boozers, but we soldiered on because we had a mission to bring Premier League football to Chiredzi,” said Chunga.
“Some of the players were getting as little as US$156 a month in salaries but we told them to just sacrifice because we were so sure that we can get to the Premier League then things would change for all of us.
“One of our houses had this flowing sewage, which was never fixed, and since we were cooking in the open, it was a health hazard but the Lord protected us and we managed to remain healthy and won the Division One title.
“The people here sympathised with us but they kept urging us on because they also wanted to see Dynamos, CAPS United and Highlanders coming to Chiredzi to play in the Premier League and someone just wakes up and tells you that won’t happen.
“These guys asked me to leave my family in Harare to win them a Premier League ticket and I sacrificed a lot, and did what they asked me, and is this the way they should be paying me back, going to the newspaper to announce that everything that we did was null and void without even talking to me.
“That is very disrespectful and I will not allow my sweat and my players’ tears to be wasted just like that and if the company cannot do it for us, we are going to empower ourselves and run our community team, no one is going to take our Premiership ticket and if there is anyone, those jackals and hyenas who have been waiting to grab something they didn’t win, who thinks that we are not going to put up a fight then they are wrong.
“My players went through hell to get us into the Premier League and we can’t just donate our ticket like that as if we have become Father Christmas.”
Chunga urged the Hippo Valley fans to come to Chishamiso Stadium in their numbers today for the crucial meeting where the future of the team will be shaped.
Online Reporter