Onismor Bhasera unlucky in football

Sport
BY FANUEL VIRIRI ZIMBABWE Warriors left back Onismor Bhasera’s club, Plymouth Argyle, is financially distressed.

That is the bad news that confronts the 25-year-old Bhasera, one of the foreign-based players who have been called up by coach Norman Mapeza for the crunch Africa Nations Cup game against Mali in Bamako on March 26.

 

Bhasera was having an exciting season at Plymouth Argyle but the financial crisis at his club is likely to weigh heavily on his mind as he takes the Warriors assignment.

The player who cut his teeth at the defunct Harare United has been unlucky in football.

He could have joined Blackpool last month after impressing the side but the deal collapsed at the last minute amid reports that his troubling knee problem was the reason why Blackpool pulled out.

 

Plymouth Argyle were hoping that Bhasera’s transfer fees would go a long away in alleviating the club’s financial plight. That did not happen and Bhasera is still at the club.

Plymouth Argyle issued a passionate plea to its supporters to donate sporting memorabilia for an auction so that the club could pay the players, among other things. The club last week made redundant 14 office workers.

“There is a very real danger that the club could go under and that 124 years of history, and a place at the very heart of the Westcountry community, could disappear overnight.

“That’s not scaremongering. We need to raise cash — quickly,” said Rick Cowdery, the head of communications, in a letter of appeal to the club supporters.

Plymouth Argyle went into administration in early March. The joint administrators have asked potential purchasers to submit their final bids by noon on Monday, March 14.

Bhasera joined the club in March last year on a three-year loan following a protracted wrangle with South Africa club Kaizer Chiefs, who wanted transfer fees.

 

The club argued that Bhasera was not a free agent and the matter was taken to Fifa. However, Fifa later ruled out that he was a free agent and the player joined Plymouth Argyle after almost a year on the sidelines without pay.