15 ‘WESLIANS’ STARS OUT OF CONTRACTS

MBABANE – It never rains but pours.

This is the story of Manzini Wanderers who are faced with 15 players who are out of contacts with the hub giants. This means they are now free agents, which makes them eligible to sign for any team of their choice. It was revealed by this publication earlier this week that the hub giants’ Captain Mlamuli ‘Mlaba’ Nkambule’s contract with the team had lapsed after the former national team Sihlangu midfield maestro joined the maroon and white hub giants from Mbabane Highlanders at the beginning of the recently-ended season.

Investigation by the publication revealed through a source within the Nyanga ‘Crooks’ Hlophe’s camp that the ever-present leader is not the only player with an expired contract, but there were up to 15 in the club who might be forced to join other MTN Premier League teams if Wanderers do not act swiftly. “The team is currently facing an uphill task, where more than half of the 25 registered players are out of contract as we speak. We are aware of what is happening in the club and we will do our best to retain most of the players because they have all played a big role in helping the club survive relegation.

Players without contracts include, among others, Sihle Mkhonta, Sandile Mhlanga, Menzi Mamba, Njabulo Gama and Bongiswa Dlamini,” said the source. Our sister newspaper reported last week that the only player who has his contact renewed with Wanderers was Zambian shot-stopper Sitali Nyambe amid claims that he has never received a salary from the maroon and white outfit. Manzini Wanderers Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Diana Girlie Johnson said she was aware that there were many players in the team who were out of contracts and they were doing their best to keep them in the club. “All the players belong to the club and we will do our best to make sure that they are playing for the team next season.  We will definitely sit down with the players regarding their future in the club, but we will do our best to keep them,” she said.

Contract

A free agent in football is a player who is not under contract with any club. He is allowed to join any team without the need for any transfer fee. Football players become free agents when their contract with their clubs lapse and they are not offered or refuse to sign a renewed deal. Then there are terminations as well. Both clubs and the players can decide to terminate their contract, which in turn makes the player a free agent. In the Wanderers players’ case, their contracts lapsed at the end of the past season and they are all free agents as they are all yet to put pen to paper over a new deal. Becoming a free agent does not necessarily mean that the players can be signed cheap though. There are payments like the agent’s fee and the player’s signing-on bonus that still need to be paid.

The Wanderers players are not the only one with an uncertain future in the club as also Coach Nyanga Hlophe revealed to this publication that he had been left out in the cold regarding his contract. Meanwhile, the team’s Management Committee Chairman Berger Nxumalo said the team was going to have meeting yesterday to meet with the club directors. “The coach had asked to start with pre-season  on the 10th of the month and we will have been done sorting out the contracts issue. Some of the contracts we are disputing because they are too much for the team which is currently without a director,” he said.

Nxumalo went on to assure the Wanderers supporters to stay calm and said they were doing everything in their power to make sure everyone stayed in the team. “The supporters are doing all their best and we will do everything in our power to keep the players in the team and the coach who has helped the team survive relegation.” he added. Manzini Wanderers will be looking at improving in the upcoming 2023/24 season after performing below their standard in the recently-ended league campaign. The team finished 10th , just two places above the drop zone which was occupied by Tambankulu Callies and Seven Dreams. They survived relegation following their financial struggles after bringing back prodigal son in veteran Coach Hlophe to save them with a few games remaining before the season ended.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: