DO WE HAVE A DRUGS BOMBSHELL IN FOOTBALL?
THE RED SIGNS ARE FLASHING EVERYWHERE
IN a space of about a month, two high-profile footballers have appeared in court in Harare, facing the same damaging allegations – DEALING IN DANGEROUS DRUGS.
One is a retired star of the domestic Premiership, Nathan Ziwini (35), the other is the leading forward at Harare City, Jerry Chipangura (24).
They are both languishing in remand prison.
It’s rare for a local footballer to be dragged to court on charges of dealing in drugs.
And, it’s even virtually impossible for two footballers, with links to the same club, appearing in court, for the same drug offences, within just one month.
Questions are now being asked - is there a drugs problem, or a drug lord, in the domestic Premiership?
Is the arrest of Ziwini and Chipangura just a tip of the iceberg in domestic football where many personalities, involved in the top-flight league, are involved in the drugs business?
Either as consumers of the drugs or as the peddlers who are selling the products to scores of other consumers within the domestic football family.
“One case can be dismissed as an odd occurrence but two cases tell us that we have to start to get worried,” a psychologist, who preferred anonymity, told H-Metro.
“The challenge with these two cases is that you have to worry about the entire football community where these guys operate.
“It could tell us that there is a real problem within our local football family, especially the PSL, because this appears to suggest that the drugs are probably being distributed inside that zone.
“Maybe, and this is even more frightening, there is a real risk that many of our local football stars are also involved in terms of peddling these drugs among their colleagues.
“Of course, these two cases are still in court, and we can’t talk about them specifically but drugs are something that wasn’t part of our culture and they are destroying lives, especially among our young men and women.
“This then means that we have to talk about the drugs situation, because it’s getting dangerous with each passing day, and I think it’s necessary for us to talk about the general situation, which now confronts us, in all our sectors, our top-flight football being a case in point.”
Another source said:
“We have a serious issue on our hands and while these two footballers’ appearance in court has thrown the spotlight on our football, the reality is that this is now an epidemic, which we have to confront.
“Drugs have always been part of our national game but you would be talking mainly of mbanje and not these drugs like crystal meth.”
Last week, Harare City striker, Jerry Chipangura, appeared in court after he was arrested on allegations of drug dealing.
Chipangura was nabbed by the police in Mabvuku, following a tip-off that the footballer was dealing in crystal meth.
The drug is commonly known as mutoriro, dombo or guka but it’s scientifically known as methamphetamine, a highly addictive dangerous drug derived from methylenedioxymethamphetamine.
The police approached Chipangura along John Tapedza Road in Old Mabvuku and requested to search a small bag and a satchel he was carrying and found crystal meth.
They arrested him after he was found in possession of the dangerous drug allegedly weighing 40 grams and worth an estimated $200 000.
A month earlier, former Harare City forward, Nathan Ziwini, appeared in court after he was found in possession of crystal methamphetamine, worth $10 000.
He was remanded in custody, where he remains to this day.
Ziwini has been released on bail, on similar charges, recently.
Allegations are that on June 9 this year, at around 7am, information was received by the police to the effect that Ziwini was dealing in crystal methamphetamine at his home in Granary, Harare.
When he saw the police, he jumped over the precast wall and tried to flee.
When a body search was done, he was found in possession of four sachets of crystal meth, in his left pocket.
Further searches were conducted leading to the recovery of 11 sachets of dagga, from the drawer of a wooden cabinet, which was in the kitchen.