Zimpapers Logo

Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
POWER struggles within Caps United FC management have been blamed for the team’s poor performance on the field of play, leading to some supporters calling for axing of coach Taurai Mangwiro. Nasty incidents were witnessed at Rufaro Stadium last Sunday when some Caps United fans were baying for Mangwiro’s blood after their 0-0 draw with How Mine.

In an interview, the national chairman of the Caps United Supporters Association, Blessed Gumbo and Alex Munyaka, the club’s board member responsible for fans, told Chronicle Sport that politics was at play within the club.

“What surprises us is that it’s not only Caps United who are struggling financially but there’re a number of teams that are faced with the same predicament. At least at Caps United the players have never gone for more than six months without a pay like some clubs that I cannot mention. However, the most disturbing thing that as supporters we’re aware of is that there’re some people who want to control the club and are using unscrupulous ways to destabilise the team,” said Gumbo.

“What we want those people to know is that if they want to rise to the top of Caps United leadership they must do so peacefully without disturbing the team’s campaign. These power hungry guys, bent on bringing down the club, will never succeed because Caps United is a big team. We shall soon be meeting with our supporters chapters from Hwange, Bulawayo, Mutare, Zvishavane, Harare and other parts of the country to kick out hooliganism.”

Twine Phiri owns three-quarters of the club with Farai Jere having the remaining shares.
After their home draw with How Mine, some supporters demanded Mangwiro to be fired, despite the fact that Caps United is still within reach of the title.

“People must rally behind Tau (Mangwiro) because he has done well for the club. We still have a chance of clinching the league title. Surely, at position four and trailing leaders by four points why must we be fighting the coach? There’re 21 points to play for and a lot can happen during this period so we should just put our trust in the coach. These people calling for the ouster of Mangwiro have ulterior motives and should just come out in the open and say why they’re against the success of the club,” said Munyaka.

“As board members we should be responsible enough and I don’t want to shame my colleagues but I know what’s happening and it’s not good for the club. We just have to leave politics aside.”

Pressed to elaborate on what was happening within the board, Munyaka said; “Infighting will never help us. Honestly you cannot tell me that a brand like Caps United is failing to attract commercial partners.

The reason why it’s like this is because some people have gone behind the club to scare away would-be partners. This is not fair to the club, especially the club president Twine Phiri who despite the financial challenges affecting most of the institutions has tried to keep the team going.”

Meanwhile, the supporters’ chairman said they are waiting for the board to give them the green light to start collecting membership cards from their affiliates dotted around the country.

“Cash collected from monthly subscriptions will help ease some pressure on Phiri. What we need is for the board to advise us accordingly as to how best we can work on the proposal that we presented to them,” Gumbo said.

The last time the club had a board was during the Andy Hodges era and were rewarded with a league title under Charles Mhlauri in 2004.