Sports / Local
Bosso dragged to court
21 Apr 2015 at 09:19hrs | Views
BULAWAYO soccer giants Highlanders has been dragged to the labour court by its former players who are demanding outstanding signing on fees and salaries.
Through the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe, two players have sought redress through the labour court and the parties - Highlanders and FUZ (representing players) will appear at a hearing on Thursday.
Bosso will be defending their cases against ex-defenders Dumisani "Fazo" Ndlovu and Atlast Musasa.
Ndlovu, deemed excess baggage at Highlanders at the beginning of the year is owed $8,500 in signing-on fees - $4,500 balance for the 2013 season and $4,000 for this year. Bosso terminated his contract leading to the player joining Triangle United.
Musasa is claiming $1,500 from Highlanders. The Bulawayo giants acknowledged Musasa's debt in a letter written to the player on July 16, 2014.
Paul Gundani, the FUZ secretary-general said it was not their intention to approach the labour court, but Highlanders' failure to come up with payment terms has left them with no option but to take legal action.
"The players wanted the issue to be settled out of court but after seeing that there's no joy from Highlanders, they've since instructed us to take the legal route. As an association we always feel there are better ways to deal with such matters but if clubs decide not to engage us so that we resolve such matters amicably, we're left with no option but to seek the court's intervention," said Gundani.
This is not the first time that Highlanders have been dragged to the labour court by its former employees.
One of the high-profile cases against Highlanders that FUZ handled was the one involving former winger Masimba Mambare which the club lost.
An independent arbitrator ordered Bosso to pay Mambare $10,000 in outstanding signing-on fees.
The former Motor Action midfielder had signed a two-year contract with Bosso in 2012 and the club was supposed to pay him $10,000 signing-on fees which he never received.
In their submissions, Highlanders argued that they were not entitled to pay Mambare the outstanding amount as the matter was now prescribed.
In legal terms, Bosso were simply saying that since Mambare's contract with them had run out at the end of 2013 they had no obligation to pay him.
Bruce Tshuma now with Bulawayo City and How Mine's Heritein Masuku also dragged Highlanders to court last year.
Highlanders' chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede said the club's secretary-general Emmett Ndlovu is handling the Ndlovu and Musasa issues.
"It's true that our former players are taking us to court but please get hold of our secretary (Emmett) because he's the one dealing with those issues," said Gumede.
Efforts to get comment from Ndlovu were fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable.
Through the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe, two players have sought redress through the labour court and the parties - Highlanders and FUZ (representing players) will appear at a hearing on Thursday.
Bosso will be defending their cases against ex-defenders Dumisani "Fazo" Ndlovu and Atlast Musasa.
Ndlovu, deemed excess baggage at Highlanders at the beginning of the year is owed $8,500 in signing-on fees - $4,500 balance for the 2013 season and $4,000 for this year. Bosso terminated his contract leading to the player joining Triangle United.
Musasa is claiming $1,500 from Highlanders. The Bulawayo giants acknowledged Musasa's debt in a letter written to the player on July 16, 2014.
Paul Gundani, the FUZ secretary-general said it was not their intention to approach the labour court, but Highlanders' failure to come up with payment terms has left them with no option but to take legal action.
"The players wanted the issue to be settled out of court but after seeing that there's no joy from Highlanders, they've since instructed us to take the legal route. As an association we always feel there are better ways to deal with such matters but if clubs decide not to engage us so that we resolve such matters amicably, we're left with no option but to seek the court's intervention," said Gundani.
This is not the first time that Highlanders have been dragged to the labour court by its former employees.
An independent arbitrator ordered Bosso to pay Mambare $10,000 in outstanding signing-on fees.
The former Motor Action midfielder had signed a two-year contract with Bosso in 2012 and the club was supposed to pay him $10,000 signing-on fees which he never received.
In their submissions, Highlanders argued that they were not entitled to pay Mambare the outstanding amount as the matter was now prescribed.
In legal terms, Bosso were simply saying that since Mambare's contract with them had run out at the end of 2013 they had no obligation to pay him.
Bruce Tshuma now with Bulawayo City and How Mine's Heritein Masuku also dragged Highlanders to court last year.
Highlanders' chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede said the club's secretary-general Emmett Ndlovu is handling the Ndlovu and Musasa issues.
"It's true that our former players are taking us to court but please get hold of our secretary (Emmett) because he's the one dealing with those issues," said Gumede.
Efforts to get comment from Ndlovu were fruitless as his mobile phone was not reachable.
Source - chronicle
