Extension Gunners have lifted the suspension of their head coach Maxwell ‘Malume’ Moyo, who is expected to resume his duties on Monday.
The Zimbabwean gaffer was suspended in November last year on allegations of match-fixing. Since then, his assistant, Nelson Olebile, has been in charge of the club.
After a long meeting which was held on Thursday, Peleng giants’ executive committee took a decision to reinstate their man ahead of what promises to be a demanding six months of football.
“It is true that we have lifted the suspension of the coach and he’ll start work next week. The decision was taken in the best interest of the club going forward. There have been some parameters which have been set but I can’t go into details,” said Gunners’ chairman, William Maboane, on Friday morning.
When Gunners suspended Moyo, they mentioned that they took the decision to protect the coach whose life they believed was at risk from angry supporters. Since then, it has been revealed that Gunners’ leadership no longer had trust in their man and were considering to fire him. “That element of trust is no longer there from both parties but we’ve agreed that for the best interest of the club, we should continue working together. The reason we’ve set parameters is to ensure that we work on the issue of trust,” added the Gunners’ boss.
Maboane said that their intention is to see Gunners progressing and it is not good if there are always negative reports. He pleaded with the supporters to give his committee a chance to deal with the coach and avoid spreading negative reports about the club.
“We don’t want to be seen as if we’re fighting with the old man (coach). He’s professional enough and we believe that given support, he can take the club somewhere,” he added.
When he resumes his duties on Monday, Moyo is expected to work hard in preparing his squad for the CAF Confederations Cup tie against Malagasy side TANA FC which is billed for UB Stadium on February 18. Already, Gunners have come up with a plan which is aimed at getting the Lobatse side ready for the continental battle.
“We’ve arranged a number of friendly games to prepare the team for the challenge ahead,” he continued.
Gunners were scheduled to play rivals Township Rollers yesterday in Lobatse in what was termed “BACK TO CLASS FAMILY FUN DAY”.
Meanwhile, the good news for Gunners’ supporters is that efforts by BDF XI to sign Hendrick Moyo and Ofentse Mmipi have hit a snag. According to sources close to the negotiations, BDF XI opted out after realizing that Moyo had signed a two-year contract in October with Gunners which was going to cost the army side.
“The player (Moyo) misled BDF XI into believing that his contract at Gunners has expired. He even brought a wrong copy of his contract. It was only after BDF XI were alerted by Gunners that they (BDF XI) realized that Moyo was dealing with them in bad faith,” said a source.
