Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Mtulisi Mafa
10 July 2009
Harare — FORMER Dynamos captain Murape Murape a bastion of loyalty at the Glamour Boys has handed in a transfer request amid a frenzy of reports that he is unhappy at having been frozen out of the team since the arrival of coach Elvis "Chuchu" Chiweshe.
The diminutive forward has found the going tough in a fruitless battle to command a regular place in the Dynamos starting XI since the club changed coaching personnel in March and forced David Mandigora out of the system.
Murape, the little dynamo who powered Dynamos to their first league championship in 10 years just two years ago, has become a fringe player during a time when Chiweshe has transformed the fortunes of the club with an impressive winning spell that has sent them five points clear at the top of the table.
A long-serving Dynamos son, Murape was guaranteed a place in the starting XI when Mandigora was in charge as the coach probably repaid him for the inspirational role that he played in leading DeMbare to the league championship.
Although Justice Majabvi was the captain during that league championship winning campaign, Murape was clearly the big influence with his loyalty to the cause coming in handy during the cold days when player unrest appeared to destroy their battle for honours.
He was rewarded with the captaincy at the beginning of last season when Majabvi fell out with the club's management when he did not report for training at the start of pre-season amid reports of problems between the club's leadership and a number of key players over contracts.
Although DeMbare failed to successfully defend their league title after having been worn down by a double assault on the domestic and continental front, Murape distinguished himself as a capable leader in the battle to try and win the Champions League.
He led from the front, with hearty performances and excellent leadership tactics, as Dynamos impressed in tough battles against the heavyweights of the continent.
Ultimately, DeMbare surpassed even their expectations on that front and captured the imagination of the globe as they marched into the semi-finals of the Champions League.
But this season has not been a good one for Murape with Dynamos investing into the services of forwards Cuthbert Malajila, Gilbert Zulu, Lloyd Hlahla and Merciful Ncube and while also retaining the services of Phillip Marufu.
Malajila has been brilliant as the spearhead of the Dynamos front row and, when he is fit, Marufu is his first-choice partner in the team's attack. This has meant that Murape's appearances have been few and far between. The situation has also been worsened by the fact that the diminutive forward was also stripped of the club captaincy in one of the first acts by Chiweshe when he arrived.
Now Murape believes that the signs are there for him to look elsewhere to save his career. "There are just a lot of problems, some are personal problems that are going on at the moment and some of the things I don't understand," said Murape. "But the truth is if they are not happy with me, then I will have to look for other options.
"I have not been playing and I held some talks with the coach over my situation and I feel I need to try something else because this is not working for me. "Dynamos is always going to be my team. I belong to this club but at the moment I feel I have to make a decision that will be best for my family and me. "I'm looking at some options and if they are okay, then I will have to move on. If you are just sitting and not playing, then it's always difficult to continue.
"They haven't spoken to me yet (about the transfer request), so I'm just waiting to hear from them," said Murape. Dynamos assistant coach Tonderayi Ndiraya confirmed that his former teammate had handed in a transfer request and believes he could be headed to join former Zimbabwe youth international coach Phillip Mbofana who is now based in Swaziland.
"It's not very clear what it is but what I know is that he requested for a clearance and he said he wanted to try something else. "I only heard from Elvis that he had spoken to him and indications are that he might be moving to Swaziland. "He should be going to join Phillip Mbofana and that is all I know at the moment.
"I really don't have the details, but I can confirm that he asked for a clearance and Elvis has given the greenlight and he even told him if things don't work out there he was still welcome to return to the club," said Ndiraya.
Murape ruled out any move to a local club, fuelling speculation over his Swaziland move. "I'm not thinking about joining any local team, I mean that is out of question. "I'm still looking at some options and we will see what happens." DeMbare lead the standings halfway through the season and are firm favourites to reclaim the league title.
The Harare giants resume their league campaign with a home clash against Underhill. Meanwhile, Dynamos are unlikely to field defensive rock Guthrie Zhokinyi when they get the second half of their campaign underway with a home tie against Underhill at Rufaro on Sunday.
The Zimbabwe international defender was signed as a free agent, having captained Shooting Stars this season, as cover for centreback Thomas Sweswe who left to join Kaizer Chiefs. But what had appeared to be a straight move, following the expiry of Zhokinyi's contract with the Wild Boys, has become a complicated one in the past few days.
Zhokinyi has not yet been registered by Dynamos after it emerged that Division One side Douglas Warriors are claiming a stake in the defender who played for the Warriors at the Championship of Nations finals in Cote d'Ivoire earlier this year.
The complications that have arisen are related to a document, signed by Zhokinyi, Shooting Stars and Douglas Warriors, which says that the player will be with the Wild Boys until the end of the year.
However, the document which gives Zhokinyi's ownership to both Shooting Stars and Douglas Warriors contrasts sharply with provisions of the contract that he signed with the Wild Boys which was lodged with the PSL.
The document does not stipulate how much Zhokinyi will receive as part of his affiliation to the Wild Boys under the orders of Douglas Warriors from the time of the expiry of his contract to the time of the expiry of his attachment with Shooting Stars.
Contracts have to state clearly how much the player will get, in terms of bonuses and salaries, for them to become binding and for them to be acceptable by the Premiership. This is meant to safeguard the players so that they don't turn into tools that can simply be used by clubs, in terms of their own interests, while getting nothing in return.
While Zhokinyi concedes that he signed the document, he is claiming that its validity became void once the Wild Boys failed to honour part of his main contract that has since expired. "There are things in my contract, which have since expired, that were not catered for and that is why I decided to move to Dynamos because I was not happy with certain things," said Zhokinyi.
"So as far as I am concerned there is no way that I can be bound to another contract when my original contract was not being honoured in a number of ways.
"I signed that document, which binds me to Shooting Stars until the end of the year, but that was in good faith but that trust has since been destroyed by the fact that I didn't get what I was supposed to be getting." Dynamos officials led by club secretary-general Stan Kasukuwere were yesterday making frantic efforts to have the case resolved to try and have Zhokinyi available for Sunday's match.
"I have been training with Dynamos and that is all that I want to do right now, to play for them," said the steely centreback. "It's a dream come true for me and I have gone through a lot in the past two years and I have sacrificed a lot to take my game to this level and I ask everyone to understand and help me realise my dream.
"When I was not getting what was supposed to be due to me, I didn't go to the newspapers or make noise but I just concentrated on my game because I was sure that one day my prayers would he heard.
"Now that I have got this big chance, I ask everyone to understand and let me just go ahead and play football because that is what I know best and my heart right now is with Dynamos."
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