Highlanders Left Searching For New Financial Backing After Wicknell Chivayo’s Death
Zimbabwean football club Highlanders are facing a major funding gap following the death of businessman Wicknell Chivayo, whose financial support had helped carry the Bulawayo club through its centenary season.
Chivayo, 43, died with five others when a helicopter crashed in rural Marondera at about 5pm on 30 September. Police said six people were on board and there were no survivors. Investigations into the cause of the crash are continuing.
The timing was striking. Just hours before the crash, Highlanders confirmed a fresh US$250,000 donation from Chivayo. Chairman Kidman Ndlovu said the money was handed over at about 1pm and would help clear outstanding player obligations and provide financial stability for the rest of the season.
The club said Chivayo’s support over the previous two years had exceeded US$2 million, including assistance with staff obligations, infrastructure and a team bus.
Highlanders president Dumisani Sandi said the businessman had stepped in when the club was facing financial difficulties.
“As a club, we do not know where we will get that financial support as he was our pillar and his interventions have carried the club this far,” Sandi told The Herald.
Chivayo’s relationship with Highlanders grew significantly from 2025, when he pledged a US$1 million sponsorship package in honour of his late uncle, former vice-president John Landa Nkomo. He also helped the club avoid a FIFA transfer ban and later funded the technical team and donated a team bus ahead of its centenary season.
Highlanders are not the only Zimbabwean club to have benefited from his backing. Scottland FC received US$1 million from IMC Communications, a company publicly associated with Chivayo, ahead of its debut Premier Soccer League season. The club went on to win the 2025 PSL title.
Chivayo’s involvement in Zimbabwean football stretched back further. In December 2015, he pledged US$1 million to ZIFA, with an initial payment directed towards settling money owed to former Warriors coach Tom Saintfiet.
For Highlanders, however, the immediate issue is what comes next. Player wages, operational costs and other commitments remain, while the club has lost a private backer it had come to rely on heavily.
The US$250,000 received on the day of Chivayo’s death provides short-term relief, but it leaves Highlanders searching for a sustainable source of funding.
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