adminEddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS and the Premier Soccer League buried their differences yesterday and the Glamour Boys have now agreed to play old foes Highlanders in the semi-final of the NetOne Easycall Cup on Sunday.
The Glamour Boys have been engulfed in a row with the authorities this week and had threatened to withdraw from the tournament in protest over what they felt was unfair treatment by the league’s leadership.
This was after their key forwards Rodreck Mutuma and Takesure Chinyama were slapped with four-match bans by the PSL Disciplinary Committee for offences they allegedly committed in the final of the Chibuku Super Cup in October this year.
The Glamour Boys yesterday revealed they have appealed against the banishment and the $1 500 fines imposed on the players and they were hoping to get a reprieve and field the players at Barbourfields.
Club president Kenny Mubaiwa and secretary-general Webster Chikengezha yesterday held a meeting with the PSL president Twine Phiri and agreed to travel to Bulawayo while their concerns were being attended to.
“We had a frank two-hour meeting with the PSL president where we voiced our complaints. He promised to take our grievances to the board and from there we look forward to some reforms,” said Chikengezha.
“The good thing is that he acknowledged that there are some issues that need to be looked into as a matter of urgency. The law has to apply to everyone fairly and there is also the issue of the abnormal fines that have been imposed on clubs by this Disciplinary Committee.
“We gave him the example of our player Stephen Alimenda who was fined $5 000 for one incident sometime this year. But if you look at that amount in our Zimbabwean context and what these players get, it’s almost a salary for the whole season. So how can you justify such a fine? We are not the only club that is not happy with the issues at PSL. Even Highlanders are complaining about these high penalty fees.”
Phiri said they had a fruitful discussion with the Glamour Boys leadership.
“I can confirm that Dynamos are playing in the NetOne Easycall Cup. We met today (yesterday) and they laid out their issues. I listened to their grievances and we ironed out everything. On the issue of the banned players, I think they know what to do in such cases,” said Phiri.
The DeMbare leadership said they were convinced by his commitment to address their concerns and have ordered their team to prepare to leave for Bulawayo tomorrow.
Mutuma and Chinyama were found guilty of “charging” at the referee and using threatening language in the final of the Chibuku Super Cup against Harare City. However, the former league champions argued that the Disciplinary Committee was harsh on their players while turning a blind eye to the offences committed by other clubs. They gave examples of How Mine and Highlanders’ players, who also charged at the referees in similar fashion but were not charged. DeMbare felt the authorities had sinister motives by delivering the judgment on the day of the selection of the Soccer Star finalists. They also claimed this was also meant to weaken their team ahead of the NetOne Easycall semi-final with their bitter rivals. Dynamos will leave for Bulawayo tomorrow where they hope to renew their rivalries with Highlanders.
Their coach Tonderai Ndiraya said he was still hoping to get his two players for this match. Mutuma, however, has been struggling with an ankle injury in the last month and had just resumed training with the team.
“I think this has been our first choice strike force this season and we feel greatly weakened if they don’t take part in the game,” said Ndiraya.
“We will greatly miss their services but we are staying positive hoping that the management will talk to the authorities and hopefully we will manage to get them back for the tie. Otherwise it will be a huge blow. So I am just hoping that the authorities that-be will make the playing field level and have their suspensions lifted, I don’t know how but we want them in the side so that we face Highlanders with a full strength squad,” said Ndiraya.
DeMbare’s cause will not be made any easy by the injuries in their camp.
Their options in strikeforce have further been dented following the injury to Kelvin Bulaji who got a knock in the Premiership match against Chapungu two weeks ago.
They are also set to miss key midfielder Stephen Alimenda, Sydney Linyama, long term casualties Obey Mwerahari and goalkeeper Artwell Mukandi who are still in the sidelines. However, there was some positive news on Masimba Mambare and Mutuma who have started training with the team.
Online Reporter