Staff Reporter
Contrary to state media reports this morning that Arcadia United Football Club, legendary midfielder Mike Abrahams, had died, the man is actually alive and well and reported to have actually been at his work place at Delta Beverages in Bulawayo reading the news of his death.
A local daily ran a back page headline that the man nicknamed ‘Mabhurugwa’ during his heydays died last week on Wednesday and was buried in Bulawayo last Saturday.
The daily went further to quote a daughter of Abrahams named Naledi confirming the death of the once great midfield general.
Speaking on national radio this evening, prominent Bulawayo based sports commentator Sibongumusa Dlodlo dispelled the news saying that Abrahams was alive and well only shocked by the news of his death.
This is the second time in as many days that state media has provided a major boob in its sports reports. On Sunday the national broadcaster spent the better part of the day reporting that the Zimbabwe under 20 national soccer team had defeated Cameroon by a goal to nil while the team had actually lost by three goals to nil.
An official at the ZIFA offices in Bulawayo told ZimEye.com that they were also shocked when they read of Abrahams’ death in the media. The official said they doubted the news at first as there was no way a character of Abraham’s would die and be buried without the news getting to anyone at ZIFA or any of his former team mates.
“We doubted this whole thing from the onset and questioned how he would even be buried in Bulawayo when he is an Arcadia suburb born boy of which his community would not have taken to him being buried in Bulawayo,” said the official.
Meanwhile a ZimEye correspondent claims that a Mike Abrahams from Bulawayo died in the course of last week and may have been the source of the state media story.