Bosso drop Chirava

Sport
FORMER Chicken Inn goalkeeper Liberty Chirava is clubless following Highlanders’ decision not to sign him on for the 2015 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League following a fallout with coach Bongani Mafu (pictured) two weeks ago.

FORMER Chicken Inn goalkeeper Liberty Chirava is clubless following Highlanders’ decision not to sign him on for the 2015 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League following a fallout with coach Bongani Mafu (pictured) two weeks ago.

THANDIWE MOYO SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Chirava had no contract with Bosso as the executive had not signed the agreement.

Both Highlanders chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede and Mafu confirmed Chirava would not be signed as a Bosso player with indications the team was courting the services of Bantu Rovers hot stopper Takunda “TK” Mutanga.

“Yes, there was a misunderstanding between the coach and Liberty,” Gumede confirmed. “The coach felt that Liberty would be a divisive element to the team and would not fit in his plans.”

He continued: “The idea behind their trip to Victoria Falls was to see if players could bond, but the technical team noticed that he wanted to go on a tangent which further compounded his problems at the club.”

Gumede said Chirava approached the club in December 2014 and “demanded a substantial amount as sign-on fees which went against the decision by BancABC to reduce the sponsorship and cut out sign-on fees.”

Chirava’s contract had not been signed and therefore he is not bound to Bosso.

“He has been told that his services would not be needed by the club. This upsets the free flow of registration process. Although we had sent in a list the transfer window does not close up to March 31 and this gives us the leeway to chop and change,” Gumede said.

He said they were courting the Bantu Rovers goalkeeper although he said the deal was still in early stages.

Mafu said they would not be signing on Chirava because of “small mistakes” that he made that were enough for them as a technical team to come to that decision.

“Liberty is a goalkeeper and was trying to join Highlanders. He had issues that went against where we want to go as a team. He made a mistake which we felt was big enough for us to think that his direction was different from ours. He had not signed with the team and therefore there is nothing binding between us,” Mafu said.

Mafu said the issues were not football related and that this was not the time for them to be dealing with those as they wanted to concentrate on football.

According to a source Chirava’s problems started in Hwange where they were passing through to Victoria Falls where they had friendly matches.

“The boys were put into groups during their meals, but he refused saying he would not sit with them because they were not his friends.

Later they were told what the dress code was, but he came dressed differently which most thought was in total defiance of the coach’s instruction. That is where the problems emanated from between him and the coach,” the source said.

Highlanders are sponsored by BancAbc and kitted by Adidas at all times, from travelling apparel, training and playing kit. Anything outside that, according to Highlanders, compromises their relationship with BancABC.

Efforts to get a comment from Chirava, once courted by South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns, were fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable.

It is believed Chirava has made efforts to get a lifeline from his former paymasters Chicken Inn.