Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Saints head coach Amini Soma Phiri and his assistant Philani Mabhena were conspicuous by their absence at the club’s opening match of the Zifa Southern Region Division One League at White City Stadium.
Saints were thrashed 0-3 by Ajax Hotspurs and Soma Phiri and Mabhena told the club that they had no transport to get to the match venue.
Their absence forced team manager Godfrey Paradza to lead the dugout.
A source told Chronicle Sport that the transport excuse made by the coaches was not genuine, saying they opted to skip the game after failing to raise a team following a crippling Covid-19 outbreak in camp.
“When the coaches were called on the day, they said they had failed to get transport money, but the truth is that they had failed to assemble a team and feared embarrassment after eight players tested positive for Covid-19.
“The coaches felt it was better to call off the match, but some within the club’s structures thought there was no need to call of the match as replacements could be found,” said the source.
This was certainly the worst start to life in the Zifa Southern Region Division One for Chikwata.
Saints, who were formed in 1931, five years after the establishment of Highlanders, are on a revival path after hovering on the brink of extinction for the past six years.
They were relegated from the Premier Soccer League in 2011 and have been barely surviving since then.
Vincent Pamire chairs the board of trustees and has been leading the drive to revive the once mighty Chikwata.
His board appointed the club’s former chairman and businessman Felix Dzumbunu to lead the interim executive. – @innocentskizoe
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