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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
SOUTH Africa-based Zimbabwean winger Gabriel Nyoni has warned professional players to avoid participating in money games, saying they could easily end their careers.

At the height of the first Covid-19 lockdown last year, one of the country’s finest midfielders Johannes ‘Tshisa’ Ngodzo warned players that they risk a brutal end to their careers if they engage in money games during the break.

Ngodzo, the ex-Highlanders and Warriors star midfielder’s promising career was cut short by an ankle injury while on national team duty against Eritrea a number of years ago.

However, there were rumours that Ngodzo had joined the Warriors camp carrying an injury picked up in a money game, something the retired footballer has constantly denied.

With money games growing popular in the country following suspension of football due to Covid-19, Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association (Zisca) Bulawayo province secretary Morris Mukwiti noted that most footballers were violating lockdown regulations by participating in unsanctioned matches.

Nyoni warned fellow players against risking their careers by participating in money games.

He has been using social media to highlight some footballers’ flaws, hoping to exert positive influence on his peers.

Nyoni was told by his doctor last month that his career might be over after suffering severe broken foot bones resulting in wires and pins being used to balance the bones.

He has been ruled out of action for at least eight months after suffering the nasty foot injury during a Glad Africa Championship match for his Cape Umoya side against Richards Bay.

While Nyoni is lucky that he picked up the injury in an official match and his team is covering medical bills, he sent a “friendly” warning to his peers, especially Zimbabwean footballers, who have been competing in money games during the Covid-19 lockdown that should they be injured in unsanctioned matches, their careers will be over.

“As a professional soccer player desist from playing unsanctioned money games. It may seem justifiable considering the economic condition worsened by the pandemic, but the consequences of a career threatening injury without support outweighs the immediate benefit,” Nyoni tweeted.

Money games used to be popular during pre-season breaks and have now become a norm with the Covid-19 crisis that has forced the country to go for over a year without football action. — @ZililoR