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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

STUNG by the crisis in their camp, the CAPS United National Supporters Association has called for an all-stakeholders meeting in Harare this Sunday to discuss the problems bedevilling the ailing Castle Lager Premiership football giants.

The meeting is set to bring under one roof the supporters, the club’s leadership fronted by Farai Jere, vice-president Nhamo Tutisani, club chief executive officer Charlie Jones, administration officials, technical team and other stakeholders.

Apparently, the Green Machine fans are not happy after seeing their team hop from one problem to another in the last few months.

CAPS United have been facing financial challenges since they lost NetOne sponsorship two years ago.

Makepekepe ended the first half of the 2021/2022 season at an all-time low after matching the record of six consecutive league defeats, including their bitter 0-3 thrashing at the hands of sworn rivals Dynamos, before the season took the mid-season break.

This poor run and the other off-field challenges resulted in the club’s supporters congregating in Gweru where they resolved that an all-stakeholders meeting was necessary to help move the club forward. The meeting was called by CAPS United Supporters Association national secretary-general Edward Museke.

Harare chapter representative Alec Tshuma yesterday said the meeting was on after getting assurances from club president Jere.

“We had our meeting as supporters in Gweru where we resolved that there was a need to have a meeting of all the club’s stakeholders to discuss the situation at the club and to remove all the speculations that may be existing within the ranks.

“The background of his initiative is that: after the crisis that we experienced in the last few weeks, the supporters were not satisfied hearing the president and the club’s leadership speaking through the media about the situation.

“For instance, the information that we got from them was that all was well at the club when on the ground we could see that things were not okay. There have been some disturbances, which we believe also affected results on the pitch.

“While we appreciate the efforts being made by the club’s management to try and get things under control, we also felt that there was need to meet face-to-face with the presidium, the technical team, the chief executive officer, as well as all the other stakeholders so that we all get a better understanding of what is going on.

“Right now we are not in a good space as CAPS United and this is the right time to talk about these things since football will be resuming soon.

“This is not the first time that we have had such a meeting. We used to have such kind of gatherings before Covid-19 came in. Our hope is that we will come out stronger from that meeting,” said Tshuma.

Makepekepe have deteriorated in the face of a series of player boycotts, with the club struggling to get results on the field of play.

The current campaign is no better. With 17 games into the season, the Harare giants have managed only 17 points, one above the team occupying the last relegation slot, halfway through the campaign. The five-time domestic league champions have been owned by Harare businessmen Jere and Tutisani, through their investment vehicles.

Jere, who is also the Premier Soccer League chairman, took over as majority shareholder, after a deal in which the club’s former owner, Twine Phiri, disposed of his stake in the club and left to pursue other interests.

Phiri had acquired the franchise from CAPS Holdings, at the turn of the new millennium and, for some time, ran the Green Machine, on his own.

But in Zimbabwe’s context, where there is largely no return on investment in football, the situation at CAPS United took a huge battering when they also lost their principal backers, NetOne, who withdrew from the sponsorship agreement at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic two years ago.

The company was taking care of the salaries for the players and their technical crew.

Jere and Tutisani have had to run the club from their coffers. Jere recently revealed that the club needs in excess of US$40 000 per month to fund their operations.

They need to pay salaries, rentals, signing–on fees, training and match day expenses that include ground hire, transport, refreshments, medicals, Covid-19 compliance requirements and many others. There have been mumbles of dissatisfaction among the fans over the manner in which the club was being run and speculation was rife several individuals and entities were interested in the team.

Recently, the club was involved in a crippling labour matrix which resulted in the expulsion of four players that included Simba Chinani, Clive Augusto, Denis Dauda and Ronald Chitiyo.

The players were fingered as ring leaders after the first-team players had mulled boycotting their league match against Cranborne Bullets in protest over unpaid dues.

The Green Machine have been battling to control the situation and have roped in club legend Charlie Jones as chief executive officer.

Jere said he loves the Green Machine so much and he would only dispose of the club on condition that the potential suitors demonstrate their potential to run the team for at least a year.

“We look into the future, are you able to sustain this? I am very proud of having run CAPS United over the last 18 years, since 2004, this is 2022, the consistency, who has got it, they should come forward.

“We will give them the team, no problem, not a problem at all, not just talking, pub talk, that we have approached them and they refused the sponsorship, that’s pub-talk.

“Understand the issue of pub-talk, people talking while drinking beer, showing off that I have the money, let them come and we sit on the table, I can even give them the team without paying the money, I am telling you this on record,” Jere recently told The Herald.