TNM Super League side Creck Sporting Club and head coach McDonald Mtetemera have settled for a mutual contract termination with atleast 17 months left.
The Lilongwe-based rookies’ board chairperson Muhammad Selemani confirmed the development yesterday, saying what remains now is for the two parties to agree on the actual settlement package.
The coach, whose contract 17 months to run, was expected to appear before the club’s disciplinary committee after being suspended for the second time due to the team’s poor performance, but Selemani said they have resolved to sort the matter “in a more respectable manner”.
He said: “We gave him the option of either going ahead to appear before a disciplinary hearing, where dismissal might be a possible outcome, or agree on a mutual contract termination and he settled for the latter.
“Now, we need to reach a consensus on his benefits. As a club, we prescribe a three-month pay as a settlement as required by the law, when the contract expectations are not met.
“However, we have given the coach a chance to think about it and come up with a possible package that both of us can agree on. If that fails, we will proceed with the disciplinary hearing.”
Selemani said the club’s board thought of contract termination path because they believe dismissing the coach through a disciplinary hearing could soil his curriculum vitae (CV).
“He is a good coach, but maybe luck is not on his side. We don’t want to dismiss him because that might tarnish his image,” he said.
Selemani added that when the coach was recently called to give his views on the issue of mutual contract termination, he accused some fellow technical staff of sabotage.
“He said atayendayenda, anazindikira kuti anzake akumamanga mabondo a osewera mpira kuti iye adziwoneka olephera [he alleged that some fellow technical officials were bewitching the players to perform poorly whenever he was in charge],” Selemani said.
“Of course, the team had not been performing when he was around, but we told him that such allegations were difficult to prove.”
Mtetemera was not available for comment after several attempts to reach him yesterday.
In his reaction, National Football Coaches Association chairperson Aubrey Nankhuni yesterday described the mutual contract termination as the best option that helps in avoiding conflicts and also respects the coaching profession.
“We are happy that the two parties have decided to sort the matter amicably. We recommend mutual contract termination when a club and a coach have irreparable differences because it tends to uphold the integrity of the coaching profession,” he said.
Mtetemera was initially suspended in the first round following a string of poor results, but was reinstated in the second round only to be suspended again for similar grounds.
Creck Sporting, promoted to the top-flight league at the start of this season, hired Mtetemera after he made headlines last season when he guided Chitipa United to a fourth-place finish in the Super League, beating giants FCB Nyasa Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers along the way.
Creck Sporting, who have played 26 matches, are sixth on the 16-team log table following a tie on 37 points with seventh-positioned Kamuzu Barracks and eighth placed Karonga United. Silver Strikers lead the pack with 54 points from 24 games.
