Nomads told to trim squad
Be Forward Wanderers FC board of trustees has asked the club’s leadership to trim the team’s bloated squad as a cost-cutting measure.
The proposal was made during a meeting which the trustees had with the executive committee on Monday.
The Lali Lubani Road outfit is reported to have 35 registered players, but the trustees want it reduced to 25.
Trustees secretary Patrick Jumbe said: “During the meeting, we made a number of proposals to the executive and one of which was the need to prioritise the players’ welfare.
“This issue came about because of the delay to pay players’ salaries and while we understood the technicalities involved as the sponsors send the money around mid-month, we thought it wise to suggest other control measures.
“We also understand that there are disparities in players’ salaries and that was another issue we asked them to seriously look into.”
According to a well-placed source, the highest paid player at the club gets about K400 000 a month while the least paid receives K30 000.
“Another issue which we brought to their attention was communication system because we established that the fallout within the entire set-up has come about due to poor communication. There are even times when we, as trustees are caught unawares on some developments in the team,” added Jumbe.
In his reaction, the Nomads vice-chairperson Gift Mkandawire justified the bloated squad, saying circumstances forced them to sign more players.
“All transfers are agreed by the technical panel depending on the need. The notion that we have 10 players in one position is totally false, the truth is that we have two players for each position. Then we also have about five players—Isaac Kaliyati, Peter Munthali, Nenani Juwaye, Harry Nyirenda and Kondwani Lufeyo—who are nursing long-term injuries.
“So, we have brought in more players to beef up the squad and compensate on the injuries.”
Mkandawire also said there is a lot of falsehoods “flying around and mostly, perpetrated by some people who have personal and selfish interests and one of the lies is that salaries [for players] are delaying because money comes into our accounts first where it accumulates interest before being given to the players.
“This is so absurd, but when repeated some people start believing it. So, what we have done to ensure total transparency on our part, is to ask the trustees to provide one of them as a co-signatory to our account. We have nothing to hide.” Mkandawire. n
