Shabanie Mine are refusing to release brothers Ozil and Tinashe Mupumha from their contracts after the Zvishavane-based side failed to honour its obligations.

The duo had requested to leave the club to seek greener pastures during the mid-season transfer window, but the Chinda Boys were reluctant to let them go. Ozil was due to join Mbombela United in South Africa’s National First Division, but Shabanie failed to give him clearance.

According to NewsDay, the players have since approached Footballers Union of Zimbabwe for assistance.

“Since the mid-season, I politely asked to leave the club, but until now, nothing has happened. I was due to join Mbombela, but it failed because I was not cleared,” Ozil said.

“The same goes for Tinashe, he wanted to move out, but they just went silent. They don’t pick calls. So now, I will be on the sidelines until October or November because they did not give me the clearance letter.

“I joined the team in February on a one-year contract, but like in many cases, they did not meet their financial obligations, no salary or bonus and not even signing-on fees. I have accepted that the club is struggling, but they cannot struggle to clear players who want to go for greener pastures.”

Shabanie Mine was hit by a massive player exodus during the mid-season transfer window. They lost some of their influential players including leading goalscorer David Temwanjira, who moved to ZPC Kariba, Tinashe Chigede and Joe Nyabinde.