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Fungai Muderere

HWANGE Football Club players have gone on strike action amid revelations that they are owed two months salaries, winning bonuses, signing on fees and camping allowances.

The industrial action started on Tuesday and it entered into day two yesterday and the players who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity were adamant that all was not well in their camp.

“We have gone for two months without getting our salaries. We are also owed winning bonuses for five games. We have also not been getting camping allowances at a time the majority of us are yet to get their signing on fees as well,” said one of the Chipangano players.

Another player added: “We saw it fit to send this bold message to the club because we have families to feed. It has been a challenging period for us.”

The Nation Dube mentored players were on Tuesday seen gathered on the terraces of the Colliery Stadium seemingly having casual charts with others on their phones.

Contacted for a comment, Hwange chairman Nairos Deredzai could not confirm nor deny the development.

He instead asked this reporter to engage the Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) corporate affairs manager, Beauty Mutombe, whose mobile phones continuously went unanswered.  

Last week, Chipangano travelled to the City of Kings and Queens for their mid-week fixture against Bulawayo on the very day of the match which they went on to win 2-0.

Before beating Chiefs, Hwange, who are on position eight with 34 points, had posted wins over Bulawayo football giants Highlanders, Cranborne Bullets and Yadah Stars.  

Last weekend they suffered a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of struggling CAPS United who had last won a league match on July 15.

The coal miners bounced back into the country’s elite football season at the beginning of the year after years of absence and they are not the only local football outfit that has witnessed some financial challenges.

Mid last month, Bulawayo Chiefs players boycotted training for two consecutive days ahead of their league against Dynamos that was played at Barbourfields Stadium.

The Chiefs players, who went on to interestingly floor DeMbare 2-1, had also not been paid for some time.

Last year, Amakhosi Amahle’s players and coaches took the club to court for failure to share US$70 000 in prizemoney they got after clinching the 2022 Chibuku Super Cup.

Local football players have since time immemorial appealed to the country’s football mother body Zifa, Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to address their welfare issues