Sweswe joins ZPC Kariba

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
VETERAN defender Thomas Sweswe has bounced back to the domestic Premiership six years after he left for South Africa with the former Kaizer Chiefs centre-back joining ZPC Kariba yesterday.

Sweswe inked a one-year deal with the club who are battling to regain the kind of form that saw them finish a close second behind champions Dynamos on their debut season in the Castle Lager Premiership last year.

The 33-year old defender will also now get a chance to re-unite with seasoned gaffer Sunday Chidzambwa, who coached him at the Warriors, where he formed a centre-back partnership with Method Mwanjali that helped Zimbabwe win the 2009 COSAFA Cup with a 3-1 destruction of Zambia in the final at Rufaro.

Sweswe arrives at ZPC Kariba together with midfielders Protasho Kabwe, who was playing for Highlanders before moving to Namibia, and ex-Gunners star Elvis Meleka who has returned home after plying his trade in Botswana.

ZPC Kariba are looking to strengthen their team during the mid-season transfer window and have also been scouting for strikers.

But it is Sweswe, who has the biggest profile, having been in the trade for decades including making his South African bow at Manning Rangers before playing for several clubs on the domestic front such as the now defunct Sporting Lions, Dynamos, Highlanders and Mwana Africa.

Sweswe’s career, however, took a knock with the defender’s reputation being dented after he was handed a life ban by ZIFA for his alleged role in the match-fixing scandal that rocked the domestic game.

Just like Chidzambwa, Sweswe has since been cleared off the charges with his ban being lifted but not before it had affected his career, amid revelations by the centre-back that a more lucrative three-year deal with Chiefs had to be terminated on the basis of the Asiagate ban.

Although world soccer governing body FIFA declined to endorse the Asiagate bans to give them an international effect, Sweswe yesterday told The Herald that the sanctions had quietly affected players like him with Chiefs indicating to him at the termination of his deal that they feared as a club that the allegations could negatively impact on their image.

The ban also meant he could not play on the local front until he had been officially cleared by ZIFA.

“That Asiagate issue did affect me a lot. I had signed a good improved three-year contract with Chiefs but they had to terminate it because this (Asiagate) thing was taking too long and they said it was affecting the name of the club and all that stuff.

“But after that I managed to get a two-year contract at Bidvest Wits which wasn’t bad.

“I am just happy now that I have been cleared and they found that I am innocent because this Asiagate issue badly affected my reputation even though I knew that I was innocent,’’ Sweswe said.

After his stints with Chiefs and Wits, Sweswe also played in the South African National First Division for Black Leopards last year.

Sweswe also revealed his excitement at returning to the local scene but reckoned that “standards have declined from the last time I played here in 2009’’.

He said he is also relishing the opportunity of playing under Chidzambwa and helping ZPC Kariba launch a stronger challenge in the second half of the season.

“I have been training with them since last week. Mhofu (Chidzambwa) is an experienced coach and a father figure to me so I am going to learn more from him . . . he is the greatest coach and I am happy to be coached by him.

“He is a coach who gives his players freedom to explore and showcase your talent.

“It’s also nice to be back and play in the PSL where I stared and after spending six years in South Africa, I am really happy to be back,’’ Sweswe said.

Sweswe, who believes that he still has more to offer to the game despite being in the ripe age of 33, also refused to rule out yet another move to South Africa at the end of his ZPC Kariba deal.

“In football you never say never. I still have a lot to offer and can still play at the highest level as long as I am injury free’’.

It is not immediately clear whether Sweswe could make his debut when ZPC host Kelvin Kaindu’s Triangle.

But what is clear is that Chidzambwa, who is also returning to the local Premiership after a 16-year absence, will be on the touchline at Nyamhunga at the weekend as he seeks his first triumph with ZPC Kariba.