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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS players yesterday failed to train as they sought answers from the club’s leadership regarding their outstanding bonuses and signing-on fees.
The players, some of whom are still owed balances of their signing-on fees, also wanted assurances on how the club intended to settle the arrears, as the season saunters to its conclusion and the festive season beckoning.
The discord in the camp robbed the Glamour Boys a day of preparation for tomorrow’s league clash with former champions Chicken Inn at the National Sports Stadium.
DeMbare chairman Moses Maunganidze acknowledged the glitch but said the situation was under control as the club’s management had already reserved part of the day for a meeting with the players and technical officials.
“Yes, I can confirm that the players did not train today (yesterday). But, further I also need to submit that failure to train does not mean refusal to train. Let me articulate the circumstances around this development,” said Maunganidze.
“We had a scheduled meeting pencilled for today, which meeting was set three days ago. Even following our league match in Mandava (against FC Platinum on Wednesday), we were aware that today (yesterday) we were going to have a meeting between the executive, the players and the technical officials.
“So, right on time, we engaged the team in terms of four critical phases that we looked at in terms of our cycle of review . . . ”
Maunganidze acknowledged the club owed the players and this agenda dominated the meeting yesterday.
“ . . . In the last few weeks to date, as you are aware we have had to deal with a congested league programme where we were playing weekends and midweeks.
“Yes, we have accumulated outstanding bonuses and it was at this meeting that we thought of actually sitting down, we iron out these issues as players also feel they have a role to play. We gave them time to talk to us, which time they utilised fruitfully.
“As we get to the end of the season, there are issue to do with, what are the time-lines in terms of payment of these outstanding dues, which time-lines we discussed and had to draw up and to agree upon.
“So we need to make it clear that our anchor sponsor Sakunda Holdings has met all the obligations contained in the sponsorship agreement.
“As a club, and on behalf of the executive, I am indebted to Sakunda Holdings for the manner in which they have sailed this ship from game number one to date, especially this season.
“We have been paying our salaries and all other obligations timeously courtesy of Sakunda Holdings. But Dynamos being one of the biggest clubs in the country, it also follows that it has a very huge budgets.
“It’s costs structure, having streamlined a number of activities, still remains high and consistent with the brand Dynamos.
“So there are things beyond the sponsorship agreement which we also have to make sure that we put in place and some of these things include further payments beyond the sponsorship agreement, which are things that we need to deal with as a club as we end this 2023 season.
“So we have agreed on time-lines with our players and because of the time that we took in engaging with players we could not continue with today’s programme as had been set but with the consent of the head coach and his assistants they have had to reschedule today’s training to tomorrow and give our players an off day today (yesterday).
“So in light of this development, tomorrow (today) they will proceed with their training session and they are ready to meet Chicken Inn and give us a very fruitful result. I can convincingly advise our supporters that there is no need to panic,” said Maunganidze.
According to some of the players that spoke on condition of anonymity, Dynamos owe them winning bonuses for the entire second half of the season, including for the Chibuku Super Cup quarter-final and semi-final wins over FC Platinum and CAPS United in the semis.
The challenges at DeMbare come just a few days after players at rivals Highlanders also boycotted training.
Online Reporter