Makepekepe: accident waiting to happen?

03 May, 2015 - 00:05 0 Views

The Sunday News

Simbarashe Dube
REMINISCING about the first half of 2015 is something the Caps United family will not want to do, as the club has been struggling to stay afloat in a grim financial climate.
Adverse headlines week in, week out make it difficult to believe that it is the same team that has produced a generation of star players in the sublime Zimbabwean nation or rather the same club that used to play football which was almost too delicious to digest. An entity which was once “christened” the “Cup Kings’’ of Zimbabwean football.

The rhythm of life in the green and white colours has completely changed; a quick Google search of the club’s 2015 lifeline reveals plenty of negative stories, a series of scandals crippling the club therefore gradually leaving it as the shadow of itself.

Caps United have lost the gleam in their eyes; the serial killer instinct and that to its devotees is a fresh wound which is indeed extremely painful.

Formed in 1973, Makepekepe as Caps United is affectionately known, clinched the league title six years later, it has been a parent club to vibrant Zimbabwean players who consist of the likes of Friday “Breakdown” Phiri, Joel “Jubilee” Shambo (late), Stanford “Stix” Mtizwa and Shacky “Mr Goals” Tauro (late).

From the green and white pot a banquet of successful coaches has been cooked, among them are Rahman Gumbo, Steve Kwashi, Charles Mhlauri and Taurai Mangwiro.

It might be easy to dismiss the rough patch that Makepekepe has been going through as a common problem that every club in the nation has faced at some point in time, but the financial grim at the club points to a greater malaise; it points to the relegation of the team come the end of the season (if the scandals persevere); it points to the demise of the once “flying” Green Machine.

Slowly Caps United is falling from grace, the club needs to rediscover their aura and a major surgery is needed at the club!

Due to obvious reasons, it hurts being a Caps United fan right now while it’s stressful being the employee of the club, this therefore adds up to the statement “Makepekepe needs salvation.”

Before the PSL roared into life, the former Cup Kings were on position six in the table of high earners, they offered $200 winning bonuses and monthly salaries which ranged from $250 to $600, but that chapter now seems to be a world away as the club has been struggling to pay its players and the technical department.

As the kick-off whistle of the 2015 season was about to be blown, Makepekepe secured a sponsorship deal with a South African instant messaging app company, Zing. Unfortunately, a few days after the agreement there was already trouble in paradise which triggered the sponsorship contracts to be cut short.

Although nobody knew it at the time, the seeds of distress were eventually sown when the funding agreement collapsed.

The Twine Phiri-owned club has been embroiled in a series of major financial challenges that have even affected the performance of players on the field of play; the players have even boycotted a league match against the gold miners, How Mine.

Phiri has been carrying a begging bowl trying to source funds so as to avoid the looming liquidation cloud. This move can be viewed as a temporary solution that will be only papering the cracks; the main solution being securing a major benefactor.

Mark Harrison the newly appointed head coach of Makepekepe seemed to be tired of subscribing to the “keep calm” theory as he pointed out that he was fed up with empty promises from the club’s executive.

“I can’t keep on working on empty promises. Every time I try talk to Mr Twine (Phiri) he tells me ‘I am taking care of it’. It’s very frustrating I tell you,” said the annoyed Harrison.

Due to non-payment of rentals, the Caps United gaffer nearly got evicted by his landlord from the latter’s apartment in Borrowdale, Harare. The incident was triggered by the club’s failure to pay the coach.

As penniless as Makepekepe is, this has set off an ethical crisis within the club and if the equation is properly balanced the outcome is definitely a bleak future, as it will be uttered along the adage “Death by financial disease”.

The Flying Green Machine, which used to boast a trophy-laden cabinet having about 23 different trophies to its name, might now be in an unfavourable transformation.

Having such indignities rocking the former champions tells their opponents that they always have a chance and the 1979, 1996, 2004 and 2005 league champions’ chances of winning the league will be next to zero.

An alternative solution seems straightforward: Reach out to all those Makepekepe fans or sympathisers and lure them onto the course. But it’s easier said than done.

With all these slip-ups Makepekepe are a runaway train with shot brakes — if they get on a good thing (that is if sponsorship is secured) fine. But if something goes wrong, there might be no safety net. It feels like an accident waiting to happen.

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