Zimbabwe: Caps United new coach signs player he slapped, hires Chiefs legend

Zimbabwe’s Caps United have unveiled new coach Takesure Chiragwi who has brought with him Macdonald Makuwe, a player he slapped while in charge of Ngezi Platinum FC last season. The unveiling ceremony took place in Harare on Friday.

Chiragwi hit headlines in the just-ended Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) season when he lost his cool and slapped his own player, Macdonald Makuwe who had tried to calm him down during a match against FC Dynamos in October. The incident happened soon after FC Dynamos had equalized through Brooklyn Katumba’s 34th minute own goal. The game 1-1.

How Chiragwi hit headlines after slapping own player

The coach was fined heavily before he stepped down from his other role as Zimbabwe’s assistant coach. He apologized to Makuwe, and now has rewarded his trusted peacemaker player by taking him to Caps United. Makuwe insisted that the slap was accidental and that he regards Chiragwi as a father figure.

The midfielder is among the 11 players MakepeKepe officials unveiled on Friday, including Malawian international Chawanangwa Kaonga, Wallace Magalene, Shasha Gurende, Kudzai Chigwida, Richard Hachiro, Bret Amidu, Talent Chamboko, Makuwe, Derick Mulimba, Obriel Chirinda and Davison Marowa.

Chiragwi, who has made previous head coach Ian Bakala his deputy, was initially supposed to take over the Castle Lager PSL sleeping giants in the just-ended season. However, he was not able to leave his job at Ngezi Platinum FC.

Instead, Caps United’s management ended up making assistant coach Bakala in charge of the team. The Harare-based club, also called MakepeKepe or Green Machine. barely survived in the Castle Lager PSL under the stewardship of the Zambian.

Chiragwi has also brought with him Kaizer Chiefs legend Tinashe Nengomasha from Ngezi Platinum FC to serve Caps United as team manager. The former Amakhosi midfielder served in a similar capacity at Ngezi Platinum FC.

Caps United president Farai Jere eventually presented Chiragwi with a brand new car.

“I think you have now matured. Welcome. Caps United is a big brand,” he said as captured on a video.