Civil Sporting players, fans unhappy with management

Civil Sporting Club players and supporters have called for an emergency meeting with the board of trustees to express their discontent over poor management of the club, particularly players’ welfare.

In a letter dated October 8 2018, the players note that there is no coordination among the supporters, technical panel and the executive committee.

The development, they say, has led to the team failing to sustain the good form which saw the club leading the TNM Super League before dropping to fourth position.

The Civil Servants have also failed to win a trophy so far with Fisd Challenge Cup offering them the last realistic chance of silverware.

“You are aware that our team started on a high note, but our performance has gone down. We have noted that there is no team work between the executive committee, supporters and technical panel.

“That is why we have asked for an emergency meeting so that we can rectify our problems before it is too late,” the letter reads in part.

A player, who asked for anonymity, said the players are frustrated that the club has not been honouring signing-on fees.

“This is one of the issues we want to raise during the meeting. In addition to that, we [players] lack proper equipment like boots and training gear. To be honest, we are demoralised,” he said.

Supporters committee chairperson  Levison Munthali said they are not impressed with the club operations, saying there is gross lack of ambition.

“Things are not working. We haven’t won a trophy for a long time and we seem contented with finishing on fourth position,” he said.

“The other point is that some of the executive committee members are dormant. Its only two people that are active. How can move forward under such circumstances.”

The club’s general secretary Ronald Chiwaula acknowledged receiving the letter, but insisted that the club was already planning to hold a stakeholders’ meeting.

“We already planned to meet them before their letter, but availability of all parties has been a challenge. Probably [we will meet] next week,” he said.

Responding to players’ concerns, Chiwaula said: “Most of them are to do with funding of which we have no [absolute] control.

“We receive money on quarterly basis. This is why we can’t clear all the bills at once.”

Chiwaula also confirmed that they owe the players signing-on fee balances which he said will be paid.

“Almost 50 percent of the players have not been fully paid their signing-on fees. You might wish to know that others have just renewed their contracts,” he said.

Civil Sporting is sponsored by the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC). It gets an annual funding of about K45 million.