dyton mupawaenda
Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
IT is Qadr Amini’s finest hour in his 15-year old football career.
Immaculately dressed in navy-blue suit, a white shirt and a black bow-tie, the 33-year-old takes a lap of honour to the podium.
He is receiving the biggest individual honour in domestic football, the 2023 Soccer Star of the Year accolade, joining some of the greatest names like the late George “Mastermind” Shaya and Peter Ndlovu who have been there before.
Two smartly-dressed ladies are in tow.
At face value, one should be his wife and the other his sister.
But it turns out they are both his wives!
No one can begrudge him. He is a Muslim and Islamic tenets allow a man to have more than one wife.
The Ngezi Platinum Stars captain is receiving this coveted trophy for the first time having helped Madamburo to their maiden league title.
He thoroughly deserves this prize after enjoying a stellar 2023 season.
But in more ways than one, this crown belongs to his wives — Esther Master (32) and Millicent Ruvimbo Museta (27).
They are his pillars since he got to settle with both of them in 2012.
Had it not been for them, Amini’s playing career could probably have been history at this point.
Back in 2015, Amini cut a forlorn, dejected figure as he sneaked his way to the passport control desk.
He has endured a terrible three-week stay in Tehran, Iran.
The stay should have been longer. Maybe two years, at least.
And Amini hoped it could have been enjoyable as well.
He arrived in that country intending to sign a contract with a top-flight team Rahian Kermanshah on their invitation.
That didn’t happen as the contract he was shown upon arrival was completely different from the one he had set his eyes on before departing Zimbabwe.
Even the agent brokering the deal decided to step aside and the one who chipped in made life even more difficult for the Zimbabwean.
With no agreement reached, Amini is placed at some hostel near a community sports centre while the club looks into his issue.
As a sportsman, Amini decides to use the facility for his fitness drills.
But he comes face to face with acute racism.
“I would go to that sports complex to train on my own but I was shocked when I was called by a group of people one day as I took a jog.
“They asked what was my mission as they had never seen a black person at that complex and therefore I was supposed to leave,” recalled Amini.
“They actually led me out of that complex. I was hurt with the hate. But as they were leading me out, some guy came to my rescue. We still talk to each other with that guy today”.
Nonetheless, the contract with Karmanshah doesn’t materialise.
He has wasted precious time in his career.
Back home, his stay with Dynamos has lapsed on June 30, 2015.
This is already July and the domestic mid-season transfer window is closed.
Amini can only wonder. Pondering.
He is a family man with so much on his shoulders.
At least his wives are gainfully employed.
Master is a professional footballer at Harare City Queens in the Women’s Super League.
Coincidentally she plays left-back which is Amini’s natural position.
Museta is a dental nurse.
But that doesn’t comfort Amini. He is facing six months without playing football if he fails to find a team outside the country.
He is frustrated.
He asks himself very difficult questions and two days after arriving from that hellish trip in Iran, he gathers his wives.
“I think football is stressing me a lot. I am done with the frustrations and I am quitting,” he told them.
The wives are shocked. They don’t say a word but they are clearly disapproving the move. After a while they then tell their husband to reconsider his decision.
“Together with my sister (Master), we told him that he needed time to think about it. We understood his frustrations but we knew that all would come to pass,” said Museta.
Amini heeds the call from his wives.
Then he joins FC Platinum before he switches to Ngezi Platinum Stars.
His career comes back on track.
But in mid-2018, he suffers a nasty injury.
This one is sure to send him into retirement.
His mother Zaynab can’t entertain the thoughts.
She teams up with her daughters-in-law in prayer.
“Qadr Amini is my son. I like the relationship he has with his wives and the way he keeps them together.
“I am one person who never wanted him to play football. I would sometimes beat him or even refuse him food for defying my orders against playing football,” she said.
“But he kept on pursuing the game. I can tell you that he built me a very nice house where I stay right now from proceeds realised from this game.
“So when he got injured, my daughters-in-law just believed he would be fine. We always prayed for him.
“But I would like to thank Ngezi Platinum Stars for helping him out throughout”.
The talented utility man, who won his first league title with Gunners when he was still a schoolboy back in 2009, played for three more seasons in Mhondoro.
And at the beginning of this year, he informed the wives of his intention to hang his boots.
“But we told him to push a little bit harder. He agreed and we would always make sure that he got all the support he needed as we have always done,” said Master, the older of his wives.
Amini mesmerised while carrying the Ngezi Platinum Stars captaincy.
He was very key in their successful quest to win their maiden league title.
And he capped it all by winning the soccer star of the year accolade.
He also won the Ngezi Platinum Stars’ Player of the Year award.
“I would like to thank my wives for their support together with my mother,” said Amini. “Without these guys, I tell you, I could have left football a long time ago.
“Master was a footballer at Harare City Queens until around 2020 I think. We could go with my other wife (Museta) to cheer her up. “The greatest strength we have as a family is unity because we follow the tenets of Islam”. In a way, the accolades won by Amini this season belong to his wives who have made sure that kept him up each time he wanted to quit.
Online Reporter