Heather Chikonan’ombe
GWERU – Former Dynamos and Monomutapa goalkeeper Artwell Mukandi says it’s important for footballers to start preparing for life after football during the prime of their career.
Mukandi who also had a stunt with Mozambican topflight side La Liga Muculmana called it a day at the age of 28 in 2017 and is now full time into business.
The former goalie further advised football players that the Covid-19 lockdown period could be a time they would be investing into other businesses so as to shape a solid plan for their future.
“Football is a short and thrilling career. It has a limited life span. Being a player is different from being a coach because you can be a coach last long on the touchline. Players must take this lockdown time to introspect and plan their way so that they don’t become destitute after retiring,” Mukandi said.
Most football players choose to retire late while others are forced to due to injury, but Mukandi feels players tend to go to bed with the glitz and glamour that comes with playing topflight football.
“This lockdown came as a wakeup call to many of us especially the business community as they counted losses due to lack of preparedness. Similarly, footballers endure a faal from grace when time to leave the pitch comes so they should simply prepare,” he added.
Research suggests that two fifths of footballers go bankrupt within five years and a third get divorced inside a year.
“Losing everything is painful. Once one leaves the game, you also lose the fame and it’s a bad image to be portrayed as broke and struggling,” he further said.
The likes of Martin Vengesai, Maxwell Nyamupangadengu, Tawanda Macheke and Gabriel Nyoni among others graduated with different degrees, which Mukandi believes is a bold statement that football players should plan ahead.
