TEENAGE HADEBE is likely to miss his flight back to Turkey
tomorrow, with his passport only expected on Thursday, in what could further
rile officials of his club Yeni Malatyaspor.
There are genuine fears this could lead to a breakdown in
relations between the team and the Warriors centre-back who remains holed up in
his hometown of Bulawayo.
The 24-year-old Zimbabwe international has now been away from
his Turkish club for 15 days and this has irked his Turkish employers who
believe they are getting a raw deal when they are paying the player.
Hadebe missed his team’s high-profile league match against
giants Fenerbahce on Sunday, which ended goalless, and saw Yeni Malatyaspor
fall five points behind leaders Sivarsspor who have 24 points from 12 matches.
Malatyaspor have 19 points from 12 games while Fenerbahce
are now fourth on the table with 21 points from as many league matches.
Today marks exactly a week since Hadebe last featured for
the Warriors in their historic 2-1 AFCON qualifier victory over Zambia in
Lusaka.
Most of his fellow foreign-based teammates flew straight
from Lusaka to their bases but Hadebe was forced to return home to apply for a
new passport.
Yeni Malatyaspor okayed that arrangement, because the
Turkish club believed that as Hadebe was a high-profile Zimbabwean sportsmen,
he was likely to get his passport within a day and then fly back to his base.
“The officials at Yeni Malatyaspor were so certain that
Teenage would get his new passport in a day or so and, by their calculation, he
would fly out of Zimbabwe last Thursday and be in Turkey, in the worst case
scenario, by Friday,’’ sources said.
“The club had actually laid out a special programme for
him, when he arrived there, where he would be put through some drills to
prepare him for the match on Sunday against Fenerbahce.
“However, they were shocked to learn that, even though
Teenage is a sporting ambassador for Zimbabwe, he has to go through the normal
process and that means he would not be given any special preference.
“That meant he would miss the game against Fenerbahce and
things got worse at the weekend when it emerged Teenage might also miss the
next match on Friday and this has made the people at his club very furious.
“You also have to feel for Teenage, too, because he came
here to fight for his country only to run into all these challenges which would
not have happened had he decided to remain in Turkey and not play for the
Warriors in the two AFCON matches.
“There is also the other side, which people are not looking
at, his team fielded someone in his place in their match on Sunday and the team
didn’t concede a goal and the coach might decide to go again with the player
who replaced him and that will require Teenage to start fighting for his place
again.
“This is a huge price to pay for coming to represent one’s
country.’’
Hadebe spent the whole day last Thursday at the passport
offices in Harare trying to secure the travel document he badly requires to go
back to Turkey.
Warriors’ team manager, Wellington Mpandare, said they had
been advised Hadebe’s new passport is likely to be issued on Thursday.
The challenge, for the Zimbabwe international defender, is
that he is booked to fly out tomorrow.
And, even more damning, is that his club have another
league match against Genclerbirligi on Friday and, if he doesn’t get a passport
either today or tomorrow, before his scheduled flight, he will miss that match
again.
On Sunday, it emerged Hadebe’s future at Yeni Malatyaspor
could be thrown into doubt amid revelations the Turkish football club were
furious he hasn’t reported back for duty.
The former Kaizer Chiefs centre-back was almost barred from
entering Zambia last week after immigration authorities in that country raised
concerns over the state of his passport.
Only the intervention of the Warriors team management, who
pleaded on his behalf, and the good relations that exist between Zimbabwe and
Zambia, saw him being allowed to enter that country.
On his return home, Hadebe applied for a new passport and
was expecting the travel document could be issued today so that he flies back
to his Turkish base.
“We have received messages that his employers are very unhappy
with the situation and it’s something that you don’t want to see because
relations between an employer and an employee should always be good,” Mpandare
said.
“Obviously, the team wants their player back because all
the international players who were on duty for their countries, around the
world, have already returned to their clubs.
“Remember Teenage is a very key player for his club and
they want his services all the time but he can’t fly because the passport is
yet to be issued.’’
Messages seen by The Herald from representatives of the
Turkish side show the outrage at Yeni Malatyaspor over the Hadebe situation.
The Turks are furious that such an international sportsman, who came home to
serve his country, cannot be given special preference to get his passport as
quickly as possible.
“His club is very upset about the situation,” reads one of
the messages. “Is there no way we can speed it up?
“It’s a sad that the country can’t make an exception for an
international player who is flying their flag. Herald
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