Dynamos FC has reportedly paid a portion of a US$27,000 debt owed to their former striker, Evans Gwekwerere to guarantee their participation in the upcoming 2024/25 CAF Confederation Cup.
According to H-Metro, Gwekwerere had claimed that his former employer, Dynamos, owed him US$27,000 following his different stints with the club.
The intervention of the Football Union of Zimbabwe (FUZ) helped Gwekwerere approach CAF, who was prepared to block Dynamos from taking part in the Confederation Cup.
As part of the CAF men’s club licensing regulations, clubs must prove that they have no outstanding disputes related to overdue payments before being granted the necessary licenses to participate in inter-club competitions.
In response, the Dynamos executive reportedly pooled resources and managed to pay Gwekwerere US$17,000, with an agreement to settle the remaining amount in batches within the next three months.
It was further reported that the parties agreed to a reduced total payment of US$20,000, instead of the initial US$27,000 claimed by the player.
A portion of the initial payment came from the gate receipts when Dynamos hosted their local rivals, Highlanders, in a recent match. Said a source:
To be precise it is only one player, not three and it is Evans. He had a special case that went through the courts and he won his case a long way back.
Since then, the club hasn’t come forward to pay him his dues and the current executive just inherited that debt. The issue was overlooked and the club failed to comply with a court order all these years.
The player approached FUZ which we believe advised him to report the case to CAF ahead of our participation in the Confed Cup.
Nowadays, the rules don’t allow teams to participate in competitions when they have debts and owe players money and we believe Evans and FUZ took advantage of that and approached CAF.
This situation meant the club was going to fail the criteria for club licensing and we weren’t going to participate in the African Safari.
Dynamos are scheduled to face off against Zambian club ZESCO United in a two-leg preliminary first-round tie of the 2024/25 CAF Confederation Cup, set to take place between August 16 and 25.
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