Dynamos Players Boycott Training Over Unpaid Bonuses
Dynamos players refused to train for the second consecutive day on Thursday in protest over unpaid winning bonuses and sign-on fees.
This strike has disrupted the team’s preparations for their Chibuku Super Cup semi-final match against Manica Diamonds, scheduled for Sunday at Rufaro Stadium.
Reports indicate that the players rejected attempts by chairman Moses Maunganidze to address them at their training ground.
They also dismissed the club’s promise to pay the outstanding bonuses in a lump sum at the end of the season, as some players’ contracts with DeMbare will expire before then.
Speaking to The Herald on Thursday night, Maunganidze expressed hope that the club would settle the outstanding bonuses today, allowing the players to resume their preparations for the upcoming match against Manica Diamonds. He said:
Unfortunately, the players have decided to down their tools at a time when we thought all was well given we agreed to pay their winning bonuses at once for the second half of the season.
But there is nothing much that we can do because they are not training and all we can do is pay them the outstanding bonuses.
We have secured the funds, and we are in the middle of processing them.
I hope that by tomorrow (today) we will be able to pay all that we owe them.
We agreed to pay the bonuses all at once for the second half of the season like we did last year.
Even those players whose contracts were running out at the end of last year, we paid them, so I do not see any reason why those with contracts running out at the end of this term are panicking.
But these things happen, and we have tried our best to also address things from our end and we are saying the payment will be done tomorrow (today).
The Chibuku Super Cup is the only title Dynamos can win this season, as they are no longer in the running for the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title.
Last season, DeMbare clinched the Chibuku Super Cup trophy by defeating Ngezi Platinum 2-0 in the final, earning the right to represent Zimbabwe in the CAF Confederation Cup.
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