FINALLY, CHIRINDA IS BACK

Tadious Manyepo

Sports Reporter

OBRIEL CHIRINDA is back after the ZIFA Player Status Committee ordered the Premier Soccer League to release, within the next 48-hours, the striker’s licence to enable him to start turning out for Ngezi Platinum Stars.

The 26-year-old has been rotting on the sidelines, 14 weeks into the 2024 season, after the PSL withheld his licence following contratual disputes involving Dynamos.

With the player enduring a frustrating period and mental torture, the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe engaged the PSL before they then presented the issue to ZIFA.

The country’s football motherbody relayed the matter to the Player Status Committe.

And, yesterday, the Nyasha Munyuru-chaired organ ruled that there was no reason why Chirinda had been barred from rendering services to his new team.

The committee ruled that;

“The contract between Dynamos FC and Obriel Chirinda dated 19 December 2023 be and is declared invalid and of no force and effect.

“The contract between Ngezi Platinum FC and Obriel Chirinda be and is hereby declared valid and subsisting.

“The PSL is hereby directed to register Obriel Chirinda as a player for Ngezi Platinum FC within 48 hours of receipt of this ruling.”

In presenting their case with the PSL, Dynamos said Chirinda had signed a contract with them on December 19, 2023, in Bulawayo in the presence of his handlers.

The player is said to have received US$6000 from the Glamour Boys, which he acknowledged in an affidavit when pressure was mounting on him.

The money is believed to be in the hands of the FUZ after Dynamos refused to take it back instead demanding that the striker join them as per the signed contract.

If Dynamos decide against appealing against the Player Status Committee’s judgement, Chirinda, who has been training all along, will finally get a chance to play for his new club. Ngezi Platinum have been struggling for consistency with goal-scoring part of the problem.

Chirinda, who was the second best goal-scorer in the league last season with 12 goals, was particularly hired to provide goals for the champions.