By Eddie Chikamhi
CHAMPIONS Dynamos dropped a bombshell yesterday with sensational claims that dirty boardroom politics resulted in them being elbowed out of the season-opening NetOne Charity Shield football tournament.
The Glamour Boys are also questioning the validity of the voting process that produced the four participating teams to feature in this year’s tournament.
DeMbare dismissed the results of the NetOne poll, which excluded them from this year’s Charity Shield, was at best flawed and, at worst, possibly manipulated “to suit the sponsors’ wishes.”
The country’s biggest football club will miss the season-opening tournament for the first time in four years after they failed to seal their place through the sms voting platform which empowered supporters to choose the participating teams.
The top four teams with the most votes —Monomotapa, CAPS United, Chicken Inn and FC Platinum — will take part beginning from the semi-final stage this weekend. But it was Dynamos and Highlanders who were surprise omissions.
DeMbare chairman, Kenny Mubaiwa, yesterday said although they had unresolved issues with the sponsors, who withheld their US$50 000 prize money last year, after a clash on branding rights, the outcome of the sms voting was not a true reflection of the votes.
The Harare businessman said this appeared like a boardroom coup to silence them from making noise about their dues, by keeping them out of the tournament.
Mubaiwa reiterated that Dynamos were not going to play, even if they had made the top four, unless they had received their purse for winning the last edition of the tournament.
“If you ask me I will tell you that we didn’t fail to make it although we had said that we were not going to play until we got our dues for winning the tournament last season,” said the DeMbare boss.
“The figures last week showed the trend and, with the way the votes suddenly changed at the weekend, it’s most likely that these votes were rigged to eliminate us and Highlanders because we are sponsored by BancABC.
“It became apparent that the whole thing was designed to suit the sponsors’ wishes. I cannot speak for Highlanders, however, but if such things are allowed to happen they will kill our football.”
Mubaiwa said their fan base was big enough that even if there was apathy within that group to vote, those who voted would still have made it possible for them to be among the top four.
Given that DeMbare were leading on Thursday, just three days before the poll closed, it showed there were enough Glamour Boys’ fans who had the interest to cast their vote and ensure that their team played in the Charity Shield.
That trend, said the Dynamos chairman, could not suddenly swing, especially for the benefit of the other teams. Others have suggested that some clubs hijacked the process and bought a lot of air time before tasking some people to keep voting for them.
Even if that had happened, said Mubaiwa, it would not have created such a huge margin of difference given that it would only have been done in the last three days. The Dynamos chairman said the controversy was likely to hammer the good brand of the tournament.
“Charity games should be played in the true spirit that will benefit the under-privileged,” said Mubaiwa.
“It’s a fact that Dynamos and Highlanders are crowd pullers who could have made this tournament exciting if everything was in order. But sadly the results are not a true reflection of what could have been. And if I may ask, who was there when the votes were counted?”
NetOne said independent auditors verified the results of the poll but will now be under pressure to publish a public account of the voting process. Mubaiwa said Dynamos will continue to fight to get their US$50 000 even if they are kept out of this year’s tournament.
“We have a genuine case and they wanted to silence us. What is disappointing is not the fact that we are not taking part in this year’s tournament but that NetOne are trying to find ways to deny us what belongs to us,” said Mubaiwa.
“We are entitled to that money because we played for it. Everyone knows that we beat Motor Action and won the Charity Shield. It’s unfortunate football matters are not taken to court but as a club we will have to sit down and seek advice from legal experts on how to go about it to recover our money.
“We are not going to keep silent about this.”
Monomotapa, who charmed many football fans with their flowing brand of football last season, were the fans’ favourite with 20 825 votes while CAPS United were second with 16 013 votes.
Chicken Inn took the third slot after receiving 15 558 votes and FC Platinum completed the top four teams with 11 585 votes to their credit. DeMbare finished fifth with 10 275, less than half the votes cast for Monoz, and Highlanders were sixth despite the two clubs’ command of a huge fan base across the country.
But, according to preliminary results posted by the sponsors last week, Dynamos led the poll with just over 5 000 votes with Highlanders also in the top three.
The figures had shot up dramatically by Sunday afternoon with Monomotapa, CAPS United and FC Platinum taking the lead well in excess of 10 000 votes as the midnight deadline loomed.
The sponsors this year, moved away from the general norm which pitted the reigning league champions and winners of the major cup tournament from the previous season to a new format that involves a huge input from the supporters.
The fans were allowed to cast unlimited votes for their teams during the one month voting window. The NetOne Charity Shield is set to be launched in Harare today where the four semi-finalists will go into the hat for the draw.
However the absence of the country’s two biggest teams is likely to take away some gloss from the tournament. Highlanders chairman, Peter Dube, said his club will respect the outcome of the poll result. He said he had hoped that Bosso would be part of the tournament.
“We can only regret we are not part of this tournament this year because we really wanted to be involved,” said Dube.
“But the people have spoken and we hope our supporters have learnt their lesson from this so that next time we will vote in numbers. So we just wish the participating teams a good tournament and to uphold the spirit of charity.
“As for us we were very unfortunate but we can hope that next time we will make it.”
Meanwhile, Dynamos players have signed a petition asking for the board of directors to relieve club vice-chairman Webster Chikengezha of his duties. The players feel Chikengezha abandoned them when he left them stranded in Lesotho on Monday and they ended up being sheltered at a hostel for the night.
The Harare business executive left on the same flight that left the DeMbare players behind, which the players feel is unacceptable, and they have sent their petition to the board of directors. The board of directors will then make the next move.
