Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
NGEZI Platinum Stars are facing financial challenges and the players say they are starving, have been blacklisted by creditors and are now about to explode.
The 2023 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions have not paid their players and technical team a single cent since March 14, the day they edged Scottland 1-0 at Rufaro.
No salaries, no bonuses and not even travel allowances.
“We’re broke and broken,” some of the players told Zimpapers Sports Hub in explosive revelations.
“We can’t pay rent. We can’t feed our families. Some of us were getting groceries and meat on credit, now we’ve been blacklisted.”
The dressing room is boiling and the boardroom is clueless.
According to insiders, Ngezi owe each player at least US$1,200 in unpaid bonuses and travel perks.
Winning bonuses, draw incentives and basic away match allowances have vanished into thin air.
“Now we travel hungry. We only get food when we arrive at the match venue. No extras, no dignity,” said a player.Morale has plummeted.
Some players are begging for loan moves during the midseason window to escape the nightmare.
Just a season after shocking the big guns to win their first league title, Ngezi have gone from champions to a crisis club. The team have picked up just 16 points from a possible 30 and cracks are showing both on and off the pitch. Coach Takesure Chiragwi, who was tasked with building a title-winning team for 2025, has already delivered the big one ahead of schedule.
But now, his championship defence is spiralling out of control.
“The employers have been silent,” said a technical team member.
“Recently, we were told it’s something about tax clearance. But no one is explaining anything. How are we supposed to motivate players like this?”Zimpapers Sports Hub understands that due to the cash crunch, the team no longer camp before some matches, they just meet on game day and head straight to business.
Off the pitch, the financial strain is getting worse by the day.
Global platinum prices have dipped since 2023, and the miners’ woes are spilling onto the pitch.
“They want results but we can’t focus when our lives are falling apart,” said a senior squad member.
Club chairperson Leonard Musariri downplayed the crisis and instead pointed fingers at swirling reports about their coach’s potential departure. “We’re currently in a board meeting,” Musariri told Zimpapers Sports Hub.
“Our biggest issue right now is the news about our coach allegedly heading to CAPS United. That’s what we are trying to verify.”
