adminBothwell Mahlengwe
Football is my passion and its development is one of my major concerns. As a former player, the welfare of players is one of the areas that touch my heart.
To me, if there are no players, there is no soccer and as such players are the game’s most valuable resource and should treated as such.
In developed countries especially England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy, soccer players are amongst the most well paid employees. For some, their salaries border on obscenity.
In their societies, they are regarded as celebrities and role models, people who pursued their God-given talents to the fullest. Their profession is held with high regard and esteemed reverence.
These players are regarded as people of special and incredible ingenuity, something that you cannot dispute on watching the artistry of the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alexis Sanchez, Yaya Toure and many others.
Even in on neighbouring South Africa, soccer players are held in high esteem and they are remunerated accordingly. If we trace the African countries that our own Edward Sadomba has plied his trade we would notice that the soccer profession is regarded as a top profession and the players are respected citizens of those societies. Clearly this has nothing to do with wealthy and development of those countries.
Sadly, in Zimbabwe, the opposite is true. Soccer players are the worst remunerated lot. Besides their salaries being very low, they are the lowly regarded citizens of the society. To an extent, they are seen as nonentities. And their profession regarded as one for the dunderheads.
The worrying part is that the current crop of administrators has adopted a stance of total disregard of even their own players, a situation that is sad, worrying and unheard of.
The situation has deteriorated to inhuman levels and sometimes you wonder if teams have any regard for the welfare and conditions of service for their players. Situations at Chiredzi, Shabanie Mine and CAPS United were the epitome of the decay in players’ welfare regard in the season went by.
Players would go for months without salaries. Their living conditions were reduced to those of squatters, the worst being living in toilets, a situation that was endured by some Shabanie Mine players last year.
Isn’t one of the universal laws that payment is due when service is delivered? Isn’t that the essence of the law of fair exchange? Isn’t it the literal meaning of the Biblical ‘you reap what you sow’?
Before the turn of the century we used to worry about the plight of soccer players after they had hung their boots but in recent years their plight has been indifferent during and after playing days. As a response, Desmond Maringwa and others mooted the idea of a footballers’ union that advocates for upholding of players’ welfare as early as in 1999. And this saw the birth of the Footballers’ Union of Zimbabwe (FUZ) which was officially launched in 2010.
The organisation has been growing in leaps and bounds and it is now a full member of FIFPro after receiving full membership status in October 2013. FIFPro is the worldwide representative organisation for all professional players. Their mandate among others is to defend the individual and collective rights and interests of professional footballers everywhere in the world.
The birth of FUZ has been a welcome and refreshing development on the soccer arena in Zimbabwe. At first most clubs took the union for granted but now they have realised that you can only do that at your own peril.
Giants, Highlanders risk losing assets if they don’t settle their obligations after the labour court cases they lost against some of their players notably Masimba Mambare and Bruce Kangwa. Such has been the vengeance of the union that it is taking no prisoners in its mandate to improve the welfare of its constituency.
The order and progression FUZ has been going about doing its business is quite refreshing especially in a nation where most people have lost faith in the organisational and leadership abilities of past footballers.
Other organisations representing past footballers, most notably those representing coaches, have proved toothless and timid to properly and actively tackle issues pertaining to footballers’ welfare, past and present.
It is every football loving person’s wish that they take a cue from FUZ.
Still in its infancy but FUZ have had notable success stories in its wake. The most notable ones are its role in Fifa’s refusal to endorse the bans Zifa put on the so-called Asiagate culprits, the bulk release of Monomotapa players from their breached contracts.
In addition, they have managed to successfully represent players in their quest to recover their overdue obligations from clubs, current and former.
From my own point of view, FUZ is on its way to achieving its goal of holding clubs accountable to their main resource, the players. As the FIFPro Secretary General Theo van Segglen said; “Respect for contracts and treating professional footballers like any other employee in a normal workplace is not too much to ask, is it?”
In this regard I think in the next five or so years FUZ would have achieved their target of making clubs accountable albeit with Zifa and PSL screaming and kicking along the way. There is no way these two organisations can continue resisting working glove and hand with FUZ.
If they think they have a way out they should check the exploits FIFPro has had with FIFA in the 14 years since its official recognition by the football mother body in 2001.
My worry though is the response and the ability of FUZ’s constituency to appreciate and comprehend their obligations in FUZ’s effort. Slowly, FUZ has been winning the players’ confidence. And as an organisation, it’s a big plus because without the players there won’t be FUZ to talk about.
My prayer is that every professional player in Zimbabwe subscribe to FUZ and get to fully understand what they stand for. Above all, it is my prayer that they appreciate the need for them to fulfil their end of the deal.
What has been of concern is players who seem not to know (or who do not know, rather) the terms and conditions of the contracts they would have signed less than 12 months ago.
The cases of Dominic Chungwa, Obey Mwerahari and Tendai Ndoro are worrying to any football person who has players’ welfare at heart. It’s scary to note that players do not know if they have run the full term of contract they signed for. For starters, they should have a copy in the first place.
I guess it should be FUZ’s responsibility to educate their constituency on the basic tenets of a contract. As a minimum, players should be able to understand and appreciate the terms and conditions of the contracts they sign not to just sign blindly.
They should fully understand the club’s and their obligations stipulated in the contract. They should also know what is deemed a breach by either side as well as the implications of such a breach. Most importantly, they should obtain and safely keep a copy of their signed contract.
I am sure that this has been and should continue to be FUZ’s priority area because their constituency is less sophisticated and has a phobia of documents and understanding their contents. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous club officials have taken advantage of this fact and many players have paid dearly.
This should stop and I am calling upon FUZ to assist by making sure they have a copy of the running contract of all members of its constituency. I do not think this is a lot to ask and I believe it will go a long way in ensuring that players are treated with respect and honour they deserve.
• Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker and former Premiership footballer and can be contacted, for feedback, on the email — [email protected]
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