Five FC Wangu Mazodze players were left stranded at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera for close to two hours after club owner Richard Mazodze ordered their suspension and subsequent barring from entering the team bus.

The Eastern Region Division One log leaders, who were 14 points at the summit of the table in August, have somehow crumbled and now lead the race for Premier Soccer League promotion by just two.

After their 2-0 defeat to FC Hunters yesterday, five players, including former CAPS United midfielder Diago Makurumidze, were ordered not to board the team bus, on the order of Mazodze through a post-match Zoom meeting from his base in the United States.

One of the affected players who spoke to Soccer24 on condition of anonymity said they were left behind because as per Mazodze’s order.

“After the game, the boss (Mazodze) called via Zoom and spoke with our leadership and the five of us were told we are not going on the bus with others as we had been suspended,” said the player.

“I’m not sure about their reasons but we just thought they believed we didn’t play well, to the point of suspecting match fixing.

“Diago (Makurumidze) in particular, missed a good chance to score hence he was included on the list.

“However, after about two hours, they returned to pick us up but we are still not happy with what happened because you cannot treat professional footballers like that.”