Caps’ Saudi trip raises stink Cuthbert Chitima
Cuthbert Chitima

Cuthbert Chitima

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
EYEBROWS have been raised over former PSL champions Caps United’s trip to Saudi Arabia where they are said to have lost 1-3 to a Pro-League club Al Taween in a friendly match on December 14.

Makepekepe were invited for an invitational tournament that was fully bankrolled by IAST Sports, which claimed to be a Fifa and Uefa approved match agent.

However, the team Al Taween does not exist in the Saudi Arabian Pro-League and the only team resembling a name close to that is Al Taawon.

Nonetheless, Al Taawon were inactive on the day Caps are said to have played as they were preparing for a league match against Al Fateh which they drew 0-0 on Saturday, December 16, at the King Fahad Stadium in Riyadh. This is the same venue Caps are said to have played against the non-existent Pro-League side Al Taween two days earlier.

Upon returning home, Caps United chief executive officer Cuthbert Chitima said they were happy with the experience gained during the tour and the relationship they had cultivated with IAST Sport, which he said had promised to arrange more games for them.

IAST Sports claims on its website www.iastsports.com that it is a Fifa and Uefa approved match agent.

However, Fifa on Wednesday sent Chronicle Sport a list of its registered match agents and it doesn’t include IAST Sport, while Uefa was yet to respond to Chronicle Sport’s inquiries.

Chitima did not respond to questions sent to him on Tuesday and Wednesday, and so did IAST Sports.

At the height of match fixing scandals that rocked Zimbabwean football in 2009, Monomotapa embarked on a similar Asian tour masquerading as the senior Zimbabwe national team and played against the Malaysia national side.

@skhumoyo2000

 

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