Dynamos will no longer pursue Pasuwa contract talks

By Eddie Chikamhi

Harare giants Dynamos are heading for tense times after the executive announced yesterday they were severing ties with championship-winning coach Calisto Pasuwa claiming negotiations for the renewal of his contract had collapsed.

DeMbare have been involved in protracted contract negotiations with the gaffer and club chairman Kenny Mubaiwa revealed after a meeting of the executive yesterday that they were withdrawing their offers and will not renew the coach’s contract when it expires next week.

Mubaiwa said they felt Pasuwa was making unrealistic demands and resolved that they should move forward as a club after failing to agree terms with the coach who brought them the league and cup double this year.

Pasuwa joined the team in August after taking over from his close friend Lloyd Mutasa and his contract with the Glamour Boys is set to expire at the end of this month. Mubaiwa said they will not renew their contract with Pasuwa when it expires on New Year’s Eve.

“We have resolved to withdraw our offers and we are pulling out of the negotiations because it appears nothing is coming out of it. It seems this thing could take too long to be addressed and we want to put the matter to rest now and look for another coach.

“His contract will expire on 31 December and we will not renew it. The post will be advertised in the press and if he is still interested he is free to apply and will be treated on the same level with the other candidates,” said Mubaiwa.

While agreement was thrashed on some terms of the contract, it has emerged that the salary figures have been the major sticking point that have prolonged the negotiations.

Sources said the two parties agreed on certain terms, which included school fees for the coaches’ children at Churchill, medical aid cover and a housing allowance of US$2 000. But the parties could not agree on Pasuwa’s requests for a salary of US$4 000.

The coach had earlier suggested a monthly salary of US$6 000 which he lowered to US$4 000 after negotiations but the DeMbare executive stuck to their guns, arguing that they could only afford to pay him US$3 000 after reviewing it upwards from US$2 000.

Pasuwa said decision by the executive could suggest that they had other ideas, which they had not communicated to him since he was still willing to negotiate with them.

“We have been negotiating and they asked me to suggest a figure which I did. I suggested US$6 000 in the draft, which was not the final thing, because I was of the understanding that we were going to negotiate.

“We did that and I brought my representative, whom they have been discussing with up until now and had pleaded with them to peg the salary at US$4 000.

“But I am surprised now they have made their decision without communicating, because it may now appear like I have refused to carry on with the job because of money issues, which is not correct,” said Pasuwa.

Mubaiwa, however, insisted that they had given the coach enough time to deliberate on his demands. “We had appointed a committee to negotiate with him and it seems nothing was coming out of it.

“We have resolved as an executive to withdraw the offer because it seems we are not going to agree any terms with Pasuwa. He agreed to lower down the figure but we felt that we cannot pay anything above US$3 000.

“This is just too much because our sponsors are paying US$12 000 in salaries for the whole team. We have been negotiating with him for some time and just this week we gave him a draft of our offer to study it and come back on Tuesday but he didn’t turn up, only to come back with his lawyer afterwards.

“We felt the environment was not conducive for discussing the contract because this is an issue between an employer and his employee and there was no need for a third party,” said Mubaiwa.

Dynamos were expected to start preparations early next month to fine-tune their team for the Champions League and the latest development will affect their plans. “Obviously this will affect our preparations because we have the Champions League coming up early in the year.

“Our wish was to continue with him because we have worked well with him during the year giving all the necessary support for him to achieve success. But we are surprised he is making such demands. It’s a difficult decision to take and all of us are disappointed because it’s not good for the team to be in the newspapers every day over the same issue,” said Mubaiwa

He said they will today give Pasuwa the letter communicating their decision. The Dynamos board of directors is expected to sit next week to discuss the situation at the club and this issue will likely dominate the agenda.