Sports / Soccer
'Dembare's world collapsing'
06 Dec 2013 at 07:13hrs | Views
Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions Dynamos are going ahead with their Caf Champions League participation simply to avoid being banned like their Bulawayo rivals Highlanders.
Dynamos were fined a staggering $65,500 by the Premier Soccer League mainly for pitch invasion and missile throwing by their fans during matches. The shocking figure will see the Glamour Boys netting just $4,500 from their 2013 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League prizemoney.
To add insult to injury, their principal sponsors, BancABC, have turned their backs on them in as far as the Caf tournament is concerned.
A distraught Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa told Chronicle Sport that the world had virtually collapsed around them at a time when they should have been on cloud nine.
"It's disaster for us. We were hoping the $70,000 prizemoney would go a long way in assisting us but now almost the whole figure will be gobbled up by the fines. We are not saying pitch invasions are condoned but to come up with a fine of $8,000 for a league that is sponsored so poorly is rather unfair to the clubs," said Mubaiwa.
He added: "Our sponsors BancABC have since told us that they are not in a position to fund our expenses in Africa and that on its own really spells disaster for us. Had we had an option we would have, without any hesitation, pulled out of the Caf Champions league campaign but now the continental body will come down hard on us just like they did to Highlanders so we are busy at the moment trying to harness sponsorship to go to Africa."
Highlanders were handed a three-year ban from participating in any Caf organised competitions after the Zifa secretariat registered the club for the Caf Confederations Cup in 2010 despite the club clearly stating that it was not in a financial position to participate.
Zifa now claim Caf refused to lift the ban despite them (Zifa) appealing on behalf of the club.
Dembare have been the country's flag bearers on the international scene, even reaching the Caf Champions League final in 1998 under the legendary Sunday Chidzambwa with Leslie Gwindi as secretary.
Dynamos were fined a staggering $65,500 by the Premier Soccer League mainly for pitch invasion and missile throwing by their fans during matches. The shocking figure will see the Glamour Boys netting just $4,500 from their 2013 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League prizemoney.
To add insult to injury, their principal sponsors, BancABC, have turned their backs on them in as far as the Caf tournament is concerned.
A distraught Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa told Chronicle Sport that the world had virtually collapsed around them at a time when they should have been on cloud nine.
He added: "Our sponsors BancABC have since told us that they are not in a position to fund our expenses in Africa and that on its own really spells disaster for us. Had we had an option we would have, without any hesitation, pulled out of the Caf Champions league campaign but now the continental body will come down hard on us just like they did to Highlanders so we are busy at the moment trying to harness sponsorship to go to Africa."
Highlanders were handed a three-year ban from participating in any Caf organised competitions after the Zifa secretariat registered the club for the Caf Confederations Cup in 2010 despite the club clearly stating that it was not in a financial position to participate.
Zifa now claim Caf refused to lift the ban despite them (Zifa) appealing on behalf of the club.
Dembare have been the country's flag bearers on the international scene, even reaching the Caf Champions League final in 1998 under the legendary Sunday Chidzambwa with Leslie Gwindi as secretary.
Source - chronicle
