The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Sports Reporter —
FOOTBALL in Mutare will finally benefit in a big way from mining operations at Chiadzwa following the formation of Manica Diamond FC, a Mutare-based outfit that is beingsponsored by Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (Pvt) Limited.
Manica Diamond will be playing in the Eastern Region Division One League in the 2018 season. Since the discovery of diamond deposits in the Marange area and the subsequent extraction of the precious stone, only Buffaloes have somewhat benefited from operations at Chiadzwa through piecemeal donations from Mbada Diamonds.
Mbada Diamonds, which has since been disbanded, found it prudent to fund a once-off football tournament that involved all teams in the top-flight league – the Mbada Diamond Cup – than finance a team that was based in the eastern border city and partake in the league for the entire season.
In a telephone interview on Sunday, ZCDC spokesperson Brian Mangwende told Post Sport that the company had decided to sponsor a fully fledged Mutare-based football outfit as a way of ploughing back into the community. The club conducted trials in Harare and had other trials in Mutare on Tuesday.
“We have decided to sponsor a fully fledged Mutare-based football outfit as a way of ploughing back to the community.
“We have engaged Luke Masomere to assist us with the technical aspects of the game. This is one of the many ways that the company has been exploring in trying to give back to the community in which it operates,” said Mangwende, before he referred all questions to Morris Mpofu, whom he said was the official spokesperson for the club.
Mpofu said he was unable to make a comprehensive comment as he was in a meeting on Tuesday. However, self-proclaimed doctor of football, Luke “Vahombe” Masomere, is understood to have signed a one-year renewable contract with the newly formed Mutare-based club.
A nomadic coach, Masomere won the championship with Amazulu in 2003 and also had stints with Dynamos, How Mine, Shabanie Mine, Masvingo United and Buffaloes among a host of clubs he has served. Masomere was elusive on Tuesday as he rushed to Hillcrest College on Tuesday afternoon soon after conducting trials at Sakubva Stadium insisting that he will only entertain a telephone interview much later.
