Dynamos players boycotted training for the fourth consecutive day on Monday, July 9, citing outstanding bonuses and unresolved issues with their signing-on fees.
As reported by The Herald, the club’s executive chairman, Moses Maunganidze, was forced to rush to the Alex Sports Club training ground after the players demanded an audience with the management.
After speaking with the players, Maunganidze expressed confidence that the team will be ready to face their rivals, Highlanders, at Rufaro Stadium on the upcoming Sunday. Said Maunganidze:
It’s common cause that we are facing Highlanders on Sunday and there have been disturbances within our camp. I gave a statement last Thursday that all was under control, which statement I don’t depart from.
Today I am here at training, I have engaged the boys and we’re in the process of sorting out the issues of concern in so far as three things are concerned. One is the issue of balance on signing-on fees and unpaid bonuses.
That’s the reason I came here to address them. We are making frantic efforts to ensure that by the time we play Bosso, the situation will be back to normal in terms of full-throttle training and focus on the big game that we ought to win so that we pay dividends to the good cause that we have started as a club especially as we turn around the second half of the season.
However, speaking to The Herald on condition of anonymity, a Dynamos player revealed that despite the address by Maunganidze, the players remained unsatisfied and warned they may not resume training unless the club management made a firm commitment to secure partial payments of the outstanding bonuses and signing-on fees. He said:
The situation here is not looking good. As players, we are hoping that our bosses would show concern but it seems like they don’t care about our welfare.
Already we have played 17 games and all we have received are empty promises. Without receiving our dues, we won’t train.
I tell you, if they have come and say we are paying you something today and set a staggering payment plan that was going to be a different case. We have entertained plenty of lies and that’s enough.
Dynamos players receive their regular salaries directly from the club’s principal sponsors, Sakunda Holdings.
However, the club is also responsible for paying additional allowances and bonuses to the players.
These bonuses are believed to be pegged at US$100 for a regular league win, which then rises to US$200 when Dynamos plays against top teams like Ngezi Platinum Stars, CAPS United, FC Platinum, and Highlanders.
In contrast, Dynamos’ upcoming opponents, Highlanders, are reportedly offering their players a higher winning bonus of around US$250, thanks to their more lucrative sponsorship deal with Better Brands.
While confirming that the players’ salaries are well taken care of, Maunganidze attributed the club’s failure to pay the players’ allowances and bonuses on time to the overall poor performance of the country’s economy. He said:
As far as I may not go into the nitty-gritty of how those funds are rolled out in terms of the needs of the club, the bottom line is that our financial needs are wholly funded by Sakunda.
It’s one thing to get a salary and it’s another thing to have it delayed. But we have to appreciate that in this harsh economic environment, we are not behind in terms of our salaries.
We commit to pay all outstanding allowances and bonuses. That’s why I am saying I cannot get into the nitty-gritty as to when and how this is going to be resolved.
But as I speak to you this is a work in progress and I don’t doubt my submission that sooner or later this will be water under the bridge.
DeMbare’s secretary-general Webster Marechera also visited the training ground at Alex Sports Club but left without saying anything.
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