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Nigel Munyati Special Correspondent
I HAVE been reading news articles on the Somvubu Secondary School and LaSakubva Academy claims for compensation for football players Prince Dube and Last Jesi.

The duo recently left the country to ply their trade in Tanzania and Sudan.

Former Highlanders striker Dube has penned a two-year contract with Tanzanian side Azam.  Jesi joined Sudanese giants Al Hilal from Manica Diamonds last week.

Rather than these be celebratory success stories for Zimbabwean football, they have turned into pools of bad blood for those who claim to have participated in the development of these players.

This is sad, especially given that these two institutions are not taking time to understand how the development process works globally.

First and foremost, you must be registered with ZIFA, and players must sign contracts with you. These actions then give you legitimacy in claiming Training and Solitary Compensation.

I quote below the relevant sections:

20 Training compensation
“Training compensation shall be paid to a player’s training club(s): (1) when a player signs his first contract as a professional, and (2) each time a professional is transferred until the end of the season of his 23rd birthday. “The obligation to pay training compensation arises whether the transfer takes place during or at the end of the player’s contract.

“The provisions concerning training compensation are set out in Annexe 4 of these regulations. The principles of training compensation shall not apply to women’s football.

21 Solidarity mechanism
“If a professional is transferred before the expiry of his contract, any club that has contributed to his education and training shall receive a proportion of the compensation paid to his former club (solidarity contribution). “The provisions concerning solidarity contributions are set out in Annexe 5 of these regulations.

“Article VII, Sections 20 and 21 and Annexes 4 and 5 provide all the information needed by an organisation that wishes to claiming compensation.

“Article II and III refer to player status,  registration, contracts etc that a training institution must undertake for their claim to be legitimate.’’ It is ZIFA’s responsibility to communicate with, and educate academies and other stakeholders, of their administration and governance requirements.

ZIFA are in possession of this information in the FIFA statutes, and should step up to their responsibilities. If the school’s development programme is registered with ZIFA, and is on the player’s passport, then they have the right to claim compensation.

Nigel Munyati is the director of the Aces Youth Soccer Academy in Harare