Tempers flare at Zimbabwe Saints meeting

Troubled Zimbabwe Saints supporters will have to wait a little longer before they can see their team playing professionally once again after a meeting to map the way forward yesterday failed to come up with a decision on the club's immediate future.

The emotionally charged meeting came after a Harare-based company pledged to pay the club's outstanding debts and levies and the Gibson Homela-chaired executive proposed an emergency indaba which was attended by members and former soccer players.

Chikwata were recently barred from playing in the Zifa Southern Region Division One because they owed the country's footballing mother body ZIFA about $6 000 in fees and levies.

Sunday's meeting, which was chaired by former chairman and shareholder, Vincent Pamire, failed to bear fruit as it degenerated into a verbal war with some members calling for an executive reshuffle, while others wanted the team to remain a community club.

"We cannot make it a community team because we once went to Stamford Bridge to try and create a relationship with Chelsea, but we were turned down as we had no one who was known as the sole owner and so we proposed to sell our shares to companies in 2005 because we wanted a way forward," said one angry member.

Other members pointed fingers at the executive, which they said made a mistake by registering the team as a private entity, Zimbabwe Saints Private Limited.

They said they did not care much about dividends, but all they wanted was to see their team back playing competitive football.

"I would propose that people put their heads together and contribute funds to bail out the club, but when you talk about money people distance themselves from the situation hence they say we must not privatise the team," said one member.

"There are many people out there who are willing to assist with funds, but the problem is that we do not have clarity in our executive and as we speak, the bank account we still use is in the name of someone who resigned and distanced himself from the club long back."

Pamire proposed that members make financial contributions towards the club's upkeep and a board of trustees, which includes lawyers, be set up before talking about a reshuffle of the executive.

"I say that we all pay some funds and set up trustees and then we involve lawyers to draw up something for us before we can talk about executive change," he said.