Extra Time: Khama Billiat has been without a club for nearly a year and it’s his own fault, argues Michael Madyira.
Eight months after abandoning talks of a new Kaizer Chiefs deal, Khama Billiat is still out in the cold.
The 33-year-old has been battling to find a new club after rejecting a salary cut at Chiefs.
Reports this week suggested he is in discussions with Zimbabwean giants Dynamos FC and that the salary issue has been a major sticking point in those talks.
For a player who is not yet a spent force and can easily march into any Premier Soccer League team, going to DeMbare is a spectacular backward step.
Yes, he is not the same old Billiat who won the 2015-16 PSL Footballer of the Season while at Mamelodi Sundowns or the energetic and skilful player who arrived at Chiefs in 2017. But he still has a lot to offer.
In August 2020, Billiat parted ways with his then-agent Michael Ngobeni who has several PSL footballers in his stable.
Billiat then opted to appoint his childhood friend Godfrey “Vokal” Bakasa as his agent.
Billiat and Bakasa were teammates at Aces Youth Soccer Academy in Harare, along with the likes of the former Chiefs trio of Knowledge Musona, Lincoln Zvasiya and Brian Abbas Amidu.
But Bakasa quit football before he turned professional due to a nagging injury and is now a music producer and promoter known as Vokal.
He has no experience in player representation and is not registered with Fifa as an intermediary.
Billiat has been on his own in his futile search for a new club, resulting in eight months without an income.
An experienced agent would have secured a lucrative deal for Billiat with just one phone call.
Maybe the ex-Chiefs star should just humble himself and get a new manager for what would probably be his last professional contract.
Pictured above: Former Kaizer Chiefs attacker Khama Billiat.
Image source: Kaizer Chiefs
