adminRay Bande Senior Sports Reporter
PROPHETIC Healing and Deliverance leader Walter Magaya and his Yadah Gunners have not tabled any figures apart from expressing interest to buy the Dongo Sawmills franchise, says club owner Francis Dongo. Life in the Premiership has not been a bed of roses for Dongo Sawmills both on and off the field of play, prompting Dongo to own up and publicly declare that he will not hesitate to sell the club to anyone interested.
Word doing the rounds since the start of the season is that ambitious Northern Region Division One side Yadah Gunners are interested in acquiring the Dongo Sawmills Premiership franchise.
Dongo confirmed that there has not been any attempts to negotiate the price of selling the Dongo Sawmills franchise although PHD leader Walter Magaya’s Yadah Gunners have expressed interests in acquiring the club.
He also confirmed that he is willing to sell if any reasonable offer comes his way.
“Yes, Yadah Gunner expressed interest to buy the club, but they have not yet come back to us to discuss figures. There is no way I can keep holding on to the club if a suitable offer comes.
“The situation is just not conducive financially and the only reasonable thing to do is to sell. You can tell by the events that are happening in almost all the teams in the League except a few. The state of the economy has made it difficult to run a football club no matter the personal interest,” he said
The Nyanga businessman said his club’s situation had been worsened by anti football elements in their adopted home town of Rusape.
“It appears there is a section of anti football personalities in Rusape who are bent on destroying the very project that we all thought they would passionately support.
“As much as we try to put things together, we always wonder why we are eventually booed at the end of every match. When results are not coming, it is our defeat as a family and what is left for us is to strengthen each other hoping for a better result the next day. That is the football culture that we know, not what I have been witnessing in recent weeks in Rusape.
“Even the levies that we are being charged by the local authority are atrocious. There is no club paying 20 percent of its gross gate takings to the custodians of the stadium they use, but that is only happening here in Rusape.
As if that was enough, we are given a huge number of police details whenever we play at home. Judging by the number of police details that we are ordered to hire for a single match, one wonders whether soccer matches are potential war zones where security has to be extra tight all the time,” fumed Dongo.
Meanwhile, winless Dongo Sawmills travel to Bulawayo to face Tsholotsho at White City Stadium today (Friday).
Their Manicaland counterparts Buffaloes visit correctional services new boys Flame Lily at Lafarge tomorrow (Saturday).
Fixtures:
Friday: Tsholotsho FC v Dongo Sawmill FC (White City Stadium):
Saturday: Chicken Inn FC v Highlanders FC (Barbourfields Stadium); Harare City FC v Hwange FC (Rufaaro Stadium): Flame Lily FC v Buffaloes FC (Lafarge Stadium); Whawha FC v ZPC Kariba FC (Ascot Stadium)
Sunday: How Mine FC v Dynamos FC (Barbourfields Stadium); Caps United FC v Chapungu FC (National Sports Stadium); FC Platinum v Triangle United FC (Mandava Stadium).
Online Reporter