Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
FOOTBALLERS Union of Zimbabwe (Fuz) has warned players against being rushed into signing contracts that they do not understand.
They have been advised to seek advice from qualified people before putting pen to paper.In a telephone interview yesterday, Fuz secretary-general Paul Gundani took a swipe at clubs which he accused of duping players by failure to provide copies of their contracts leading to disputes.

“Players must ask for time to go and read, consult and understand the contract before they sign. It’s their right to do so. The problem is that most clubs lie to players and tell them that the contracts that they have signed have to go to Zifa and PSL to be stamped.

“That’s a blatant lie because once one signs a contract, that becomes legally binding and clubs must release a copy to the player immediately after signing. We’ve seen cases of contracts being manipulated after the player has been told that the document is being sent to Zifa,” said Gundani.

Already, Fuz is representing the Caps United trio of Stephen Makatuka, Dominic Chungwa and Ronald Pfumbidzai who claim that their employer tampered with their contracts and have since approached Zifa to help them clear the issue.

Gundani is confident that the three players will be given their clearances by Zifa to join teams of  their choice, claiming that contracts in possession of Caps United were tampered with and had the last  page with financial details and duration of the deal missing.

The former Zimbabwe international claimed that 90 percent of PSL clubs and most Division One teams negotiate in bad faith and called on Zifa to step in and guard against the exploitation of players.

“They (Zifa and PSL) must also punish clubs that don’t give players copies of their contracts. Actually, we’re lobbying for Zifa and PSL to standardise contracts and make sure that they conform to the drafts that were sent by Fifa three years ago to avoid problems,” Gundani said.

He said there were a number of cases involving breach of contract by clubs that they were handling, adding that the developments were hindering players’ movement during the transfer window.

Gundani hailed Zifa for being co-operative by accepting as little as $200 to have their cases heard by the Zifa Players’ Status Committee.

“In the past it used to be difficult to have matters heard by the Zifa Player Status Committee because of the exorbitant $1,000 which they were charging. However, we commend the national association for agreeing to hear some of the cases upon payment of $200. By so doing, players now won’t give up on fighting for their release if there’s any breach of contract.”

Fuz will soon visit clubs to educate their members on how to negotiate a contract and give players pointers on contracts.

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