Caps United defender Jimmy Dzingai has reportedly quit the club following a dressing room bust-up with one of the coaches at Mandava Stadium in Zvishavane last week.
The Harare football giants lost 3-0 to FC Platinum, their third consecutive defeat.
As tensions built up, there was a harsh exchange of words between the player and the coach over the leakage in defence.
Dzingai, who partnered Marshal Machazane at the heart of the defence is said to have been angered by being singled out for the poor performance and exited the players’ WhatsApp group without explanation.
Reports suggest he had officially announced that he was no longer interested in continuing to play for the club and was already looking elsewhere.
But coach Lloyd Chitembwe downplayed the issue after the team’s training session yesterday. He told NewsDay:
The issue is not about controversies. We want to talk about the positive things we have seen at training. He is not here because we excused him.
The incident comes just after the club leadership sacked three players – goalkeeper Simba Chinani, defender Dennis Dauda and striker Clive Augusto – for allegedly leading a player strike which almost led to a cancellation of their match against Cranborne Bullets. They lost the match 2-0.
Meanwhile, Ronald Chitiyo who was among the players who were sacked before being pardoned, is sbeing linked with a move to Simba Bhora, a Division One club.
Despite management calling him to a meeting where he was told he still had a role to play at the club, Chitiyo has not been reporting for training amid reports that he has set his sights on the Northern Region Division One outfit.
The club hierarchy is also said to be making moves to persuade Dauda to return in the midst of a defensive crisis, especially after Dzingai walked out.
Dauda told NewsDay Sport this week that he had no hard feelings over the sacking and was waiting to consider offers from elsewhere.
With defender Valentine Musarurwa unavailable for the clash against Chicken Inn after accumulating three yellow cards, Chitembwe will be thin in defence.
The Caps United mentor, though believes the preparations have been much better this week in comparison to the past two weeks. He said the disappointing results in the past games were expected in the context of the turbulence the team went through.
More: NewsDay