No X-Mas cheer at Dynamos over bonuses

By Petros Kausiyo

HARARE- Another storm is brewing in the volatile Dynamos camp – this time over reports that disgruntled players who had been hoping to be rewarded for winning the Premiership title are not happy at having to go for the Christmas break empty handed.

The Dynamos executive ruled out paying the players and the technical team a special bonus for ending a four-year wait to win the championship with Callisto Pasuwa’s men later sealing a double when beating Motor Action to claim the inaugural Mbada Diamonds Cup.

It has emerged that the players unsuccessfully petitioned their chairman Kenny Mubaiwa with a view to having the executive’s decision NOT to reward them reversed.

Mubaiwa is also in the eye of the storm amid allegations that the players were not amused with the DeMbare management’s decision to use part of their US$75 000 championship prize money to pay off a US$65 000 debt owed to the chairman.

Sources close to the goings-on at Dynamos said the players felt that part of the money could have been used to reward the championship winning side and “possible pay off the chairman with the other part.”

Some of the players who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation insisted that they were not happy “to just have medals as the only thing to show that we won the biggest prize in local football.”

“Imagine that the executive suggested that we should not have been paid winning bonuses during the league matches so that we could get a lump sum at the end of the season.

“Now as players we are heading for Xmas without anything . . . there is no token of appreciation for winning the league yet that is every team’s goal each year.

“Players fought all year for the league title because that is the cake and such cup titles like the BancABC or the Mbada Diamonds are just the icing on that big cake and we can do away with the icing if it compromises our chances of winning the cake.

“Now we have heard that the chairman had been owed money from the time he worked as a deputy to Farai Munetsi and they decided to pay him off from the prize money and we are surprised that the whole executive could sit and agree that we wont give players even a cent as a thank you for what we achieved.

“Yes if he helped the team he should be paid back but not at the expense of the players who fought for that prize and we believe the payments should also be staggered,” the players said.

The players also claimed that there had been high expectations from their families after their successful stint on the field that their triumph would translate into some monetary rewards from the club.

Repeated efforts to reach Mubaiwa for comment failed to yield any fruits on Friday while club treasurer Webster Chikengezha dismissed the claims, arguing that Dynamos were not compelled to publicly discuss how they had spent their earnings.

“For a club like Dynamos to be discussing whatever we used the money to pay for would be unprofessional.

“To be honest Dynamos like any other organisation has its creditors and we cannot go into detail about who was paid how much.

“Whoever is claiming that this one was paid so much and that one this much or that that proceeds were used to pay the chairman, I don’t know where they are getting that from,” Chikengezha said.

The Dynamos treasurer also said his chairman had been dealing directly with the players’ grievances over the championship bonus.

“On the issue of the bonuses, the players have been communicating directly with the chairman and he is the best person to deal with on the matter because I am not sure at what stage they are,” Chikengezha said.

After sweeping all but the BancABC Cup in a memorable year for the Harare giants, Dynamos have suddenly found themselves in the spotlight for the wrong reasons – the somewhat perennial problems related to bonuses, the signing of players or the hiring and firing of coaches.

If it was Elvis Chiweshe who was forced to resign in a huff after he learnt that the executive was clandestinely negotiating a with a new coach – Lloyd Mutasa – to replace him then it is championship winning gaffer Callisto Pasuwa this year.

The Pasuwa contract saga has raged all week with no solution seemingly in sight until Mubaiwa emerged from an executive meeting on Thursday to reveal that their talks to offer the coach a new deal had collapsed.

Chikengezha insisted that their position to look for a new coach had not changed.

“As far as I know what the chairman said after our meeting still stands unless something else which I am not aware of has changed. In fact the secretary (Nyika Chifamba) will be handling the adverts for the post of coach and I am sure he is already working on that,” Chikengezha said.

After being linked with Zambian coach Keegan Mumba, Dynamos are now rumoured to have also approached former midfielder and Monomotapa coach Taurai Mangwiro to come in as Pasuwa’s replacement.

The national Under-20 coach, however on Friday shot down any claims linking him with a move from Monoz.

“There is no such thing and I have not spoken to anyone about anything like that. “If anything I am actually very supportive of Callisto, he is my young brother and I am in constant touch with him.

“I am very happy with what he has achieved at Dynamos and I am so happy with the conditions at Monomotapa. In fact I would want to do better with the project we have at the club this coming year,” Mangwiro said.

Although they will be under pressure to get their preparations for 2012 underway soon after the festive holidays, Mubaiwa’s leadership has come under criticism for the botched manner in which they handled the Pasuwa contract talks.

The DeMbare’s executive’s decision to ask the coach to draw up his own draft contract, only to leak it to their supporters and seek public sympathy over false claims that the coach was demanding a US$15 000 salary has left a lot of questions hanging over their sincerity to retain the club’s former midfielder as head coach for next year.

There were also indications Friday that there was more to it than just a deadlock over Pasuwa’s demand for a US$4 000 salary and the executive’s insistence on paying US$3 000 amid revelations that some within the executive now also wanted the coach to dump his assistants Tonderai Ndiraya and Tichaona Diya if he were to be retained.

Pasuwa has stuck with his backroom staff and wants them back if he is to continue at Dynamos. But with players heading for the Christmas holidays a disgruntled lot, more chaos could characterise Dynamos pre-season preparations early next year.