FOOTBALL agents Gibson Mahachi and George Deda have spoken out on why some local players are returning home prematurely after securing contracts outside the country.
On Thursday, the trio of Devon Chafa, Partson Jaure and Ngobizitha Masuku parted ways with Zambian side Buildcon by mutual consent.
Last year, Elisha Muroiwa, Wisdom Mutasa and Simba Nhivi left Tanzanian club Singida in a huff while the CAPS United duo of Abbas Amidu and Ronald Chitiyo also had short stints with Egyptian and Tunisian clubs.
A few other players such as Thomas Chideu, Blessing Moyo and Mitchelle Katsvairo have also quickly returned home following stints with South African Premiership clubs.
Mahachi, who is finalising the termination of Chafa’s contract, says the midfielder was not happy with the working conditions.
“All I can say is Devon was a regular player at Buildcon, but his return has something to do with the environment rather than the monetary issue.
“The working conditions were not conducive. He was not happy at the club and we need to finalise this once we agree that he has to come back and see what happens.
“We don’t know yet the next destination.
“He will be a free agent, but might be lucky to get another club this season.“Most clubs are struggling with slots, they are filled up,” he said.He said every case was different.
“A player may fail to adapt to the conditions, at times changes in the technical team also have a bearing as well as monetary issues.
“But a lot is involved when determining these deals, so each case should always be treated separately, not to generalise issues.
“It is not about money always, and it happens everywhere in football that sometimes deals fall apart,” said Mahachi.
Deda added that the Buildcon players left purely for sporting reasons.
“Buildcon has not offloaded the three players, the players have indicated that they want to leave for sporting reasons, purely in search of game time, and they have seen little or no action since the Italian coach left.
“Zambia, unlike Zimbabwe, a team can register even 100 players.
“Buildcon have over 45 professionals from more than 10 countries in Africa, hence the players have written to the club in search of game time. If players say they want to leave, we have to respect their wishes. I prefer responding to situations that I am very familiar with. I cannot say much about Abbas or Chitiyo, but what I can safely comment about is the players that I have represented in the last 12 or 14 months.
For example say Pasuwa (Callisto) is appointed coach of Dynamos, he normally brings his own backroom staff as well as players.
“So when these coaches leave, even the players that have been playing automatically go out of favour.
“This is the very scenario that happened at Buildcon when the Italian coach left.
“The day he left, the next game Masuku, Jaure and Tatenda were automatically left out the starting team. Not that they were benched, but straight to the terraces.’’ The Herald.
