Cuca Tops deny poaching players 

Cuca Tops FC has been accused of poaching players for their women’s team from Buffalo Horns Academy, a claim they vehemently shot down yesterday.

Buffalo Horns president Julius Simbombo wrote to Cuca Tops chairman Herculano Mwenyo on 31 August, calling out their rivals over inappropriately approaching the former’s players.

According to the letter, which The Namibian has seen, Tops allegedly used Buffalo’s players to participate in a recent tournament without their consent.

The 21 players played under the Cuca Tops banner as part of plans to assemble their women’s team for the upcoming season in line with winning promotion to the Namibia Premier Football League.

“We are disappointed in the conduct of Cuca Tops FC under the leadership of Mr Mwenyo Herculano, its chairperson and a senior civil servant, whom we believe should uphold good governance. Instead, they stooped to promoting player poaching without following proper procedures,” Simbombo wrote.

His academy is willing to assist Cuca Tops to set up their women’s team procedurally, he said.

“As much as we understand that your promotion to the top-flight league requires you to establish a women’s team, this shouldn’t come at the expense of Buffalo Horns Academy without proper engagement,” Simbombo said.

Responding to the allegations, Cuca Tops’ chairman for sport, Christian Mukuve, denied the claims.

“No, no, no, no. We are not involved in player poaching.

“I received this letter on my desk yesterday. After going through it, I even had to ask around to find out where this team, Buffalo, is,” he said, adding that Cuca Tops has always had several lateral teams, including a women’s team.

“We have been in existence for over 40 years as a club, so we know the regulations when it comes to registering players. We have always had our A team, an under-17 team, and also a women’s soccer team,” Mukuve said.

He suggested that the misunderstanding may have arisen after Cuca Tops held open trials for players.

“We sent out an announcement through social media last month, calling for trials. This is standard procedure in football. We have to give opportunities to new players who want to join. Perhaps the confusion came from players attending those trials,” the Cuca Tops senior official explained.

When asked if Cuca Tops would formally respond to the allegations, Mukuve confirmed that they would, but also expressed disappointment with how Buffalo Horns handled the matter.

“This is a formal correspondence, and I believe it’s already in the hands of our chairman. We will definitely respond. However, I wish Buffalo Horns’ management had spoken to us directly before escalating the issue to the media,” he said.