NORMALCY returned to Dynamos yesterday after the players were given $500 each to end a two-day strike that had threatened the team’s Caf Champions League trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
HENRY MHARA SPORTS REPORTER
The Harare giants are expected to leave this afternoon for Kinshasa ahead of their first round second leg match against AS Vita.
Preparations for the decisive match had been thrown into disarray as players boycotted training early this week pressing for their winning bonuses and allowances.
They were demanding money for the matches against Botswana’s Mochudi Centre Chiefs in the previous round.
Normalcy returned at the club after a meeting between the board of directors, the executive and the players held at East24 restaurant yesterday morning where the players were given part of the payment with a promise to receive the full amount on their return.
The meeting, which was chaired by board chairman Freddy Mukwesha resulted in the players resuming training at their usual base at Zimphos in the afternoon.
Board member Bernard Marriot Lusengo who attended the meeting and the team’s training session confirmed the meeting although he refused to divulge the figure given to the players.
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He revealed that executive chairman Keni Mubaiwa and secretary-general Webster Chikengezha had bailed the situation using their personal resources.
“We have given them part of the money. The chairman (Mubaiwa) and secretary-general (Chikengezha) have taken care of that. The players will get the remainder on return,” Marriot said.
“We have spoken to them and they understand our situation. We don’t have money. We are suffering from the liquidity crunch just like everybody else in the country.
“But we have told them that we are doing our level best and hopefully everything will go back to normal,” Marriot added.
However, players revealed that they had been given $500 each.
“We received $500 each. This is better than the $300 they had initially offered us,” one of the players said.
After the meeting which ended around 9:40am, the players went straight to Zimphos in a team bus where they were taken through a very intense three-hour training session by coach Kalisto Pasuwa.
More emphasis was put on endurance and tactics as the team prepared for the match where a scoring draw will send Pasuwa’s men through to the next stage. All the players, except for Patson Jaure trained. Pasuwa said the defender is ill although he is expected to have recovered by the time the team leave for Kinshasa. Midfielder Walter Mukanga who missed the first leg, has recovered and trained with the rest of the squad yesterday. Pasuwa was relieved to have his men back on the field.
“I am happy obviously that they trained today (yesterday), but we lost two days which we will never recover. But that is part of life. From the interactions I am having with the boys it looks like they are happy.
“All except a few players are fit and available for selection. Ocean (Mushure) has a muscle strain while Sydney Linyama has a boil. “Washy (Pakamisa) is complaining about his knee. They will be assessed later in the day (yesterday), but they should be fit to travel,” Pasuwa said.
The team is expected to leave Harare this afternoon and stop over in Ethiopia before arriving in Kinshasa tomorrow.
