By Darlington Mutsvairi
FORMER Highlanders and Zimbabwe Warriors goalkeeper, Tapuwa Kapini was yesterday abruptly offloaded by South African top flight side, Highlands Park, a team he had ties with for five seasons.
The former Warriors goal minder who boasts of clean sheets on his two outings in national colours at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2004 and 2006 could not hide his disappointment following the club’s decision which came to him as a shock.
“Just disappointed, went for morning training today and after training the team manager told us that we are not in coaches plans, that’s life God knows why,” he posted on his twitter account.
Kampos as he is popularly known by many football fanatics was writhed with injuries during the first half of the just ended 2019/20 season.
When the league finally came to life after the suspension due to the covid-19 pandemic, the shot-stopper appeared to have re-claimed his number one jersey at Highlands Park during the tail-end of the just ended season.
The situation suddenly changed as there surfaced uncertainty surrounding the future of the Johannesburg based outfit, as the owners had put the club under the hammer as a result of the financial constraints that resulted from the global pandemic, a scenario which cast doubt over the future of a number players at the club.
TS Galaxy owner, Tim Sukazi has successfully purchased the PSL franchise of Highlands Park and according to him; it is done deal only waiting for the PSL executive committee to ratify it.
The Highlands Park new boss has indicated their responsibility towards the players that are still contracted to Highlands Park as part of the deal which unfortunately affected Kapini.
“The rules say we are responsible for the players of Highlands Park who still have contracts but we can make any decision on players whose contracts are ending like Kapini who’s 36. I have young keepers at TS Galaxy who have contracts,” he revealed to the SA FM.
“For example, Yeye is out of contract but the technical team likes him. The same goes for Bevan Fransman. We might keep these two players. The technical team makes this decision”, he added.
Kampos is one of the longest serving players in the ABSA league with an almost 16 year stay in the South African topflight league.
He joined the league in 2006 from Bulawayo based Zimbabwean giants; Highlanders were he had stayed for almost five years, joining the now non-operational Platinum Stars.
Tapuwa Kapini has been with Highlands Park since 2015, helping the outfit earn promotion to the topflight league in a successful career which also saw him being handed the club’s captaincy.
