Silver Strikers FC general secretary Mike Tembo has said they are not giving game time to gangling forward Russell Mwafulirwa because he appears not interested to play for them.
Tembo was reacting to The Nation’s question on whether the former Flames striker, who returned to the Bankers three months ago after struggling for form in South Africa due to a string of injuries, is in their plans for this league season.
In May, Tembo said they had given Mwafulirwa a year-long contract although the player claims he has not yet signed the contract.
“For us to feature a player in games, there must be interest from him. Russell is training with us for over two months now, but our technical panel says he has not shown that interest,” said Tembo.
“Maybe he has seen that the players’ upkeep is not satisfactory as compared to what which he used to get during his professional career abroad or he just wants to keep fit and return to South Africa. Honestly, he might not feature in our league matches.”
However, Mwafulirwa said yesterday that he is interested and fit to play for the team only that the club’s officials shun discussions with him.
“Several times I have tried to sit down with the executive to discuss some contractual issues, but they always fail to show up. I hope they know what they are doing.
“Despite that, I am not desperate for game time. I will not even rush into joining another club if Silver continue to keep me on the sidelines because, as a professional, I have my own targets; I want to get back to my feet and probably earn my place in the national team,” he said.
The 31-year-old, who was part of Flames squad at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Angola, said he is grateful to Silver Strikers for allowing him to train with them.
At his peak, Mwafulirwa played for South Africa’s top-flight league sides such as Jomo Cosmos and Ajax Cape Town before joining Swedish outfit IFK Norrkoping, which he helped to earn promotion into the top league.
He severed ties with the club in June 2012 to join lower league Swedish club IK Sleipner.
