Dynamos cry foul over Botswana tourney

Sport
DYNAMOS president Keni Mubaiwa has accused the organisers of the Botswana Supa Power Cup of trying to exploit their popularity following last week’s dramatic collapse of the one-day invitational tournament, which was set to be played in Francistown yesterday.

DYNAMOS president Keni Mubaiwa has accused the organisers of the Botswana Supa Power Cup of trying to exploit their popularity following last week’s dramatic collapse of the one-day invitational tournament, which was set to be played in Francistown yesterday.

BY SPORTS REPORTER

Keni Mubaiwa

Zimbabwean giants Dynamos and Highlanders were scheduled to take part in an invitational one-day tournament dubbed the Supa Power Cup, also featuring Botswana clubs Mochudi Centre Chiefs.

Joy Foundation, the tournament sponsors, had promised to pay each participating member of the four teams P5 000 as appearance fees in the tournament which curiously did not have prize money.

The financially-troubled Zimbabwean clubs, whose participation in the tournament during a crucial period in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title race had been questioned, however, withdrew from the tournament at the 11th hour on Thursday after the organisers failed to deposit the agreed appearance fees at the agreed time.

“It’s a harsh lesson for us as the two biggest clubs in Zimbabwe,” Mubaiwa told Standardsport in an interview yesterday.

“Now we know there are people who in the future could come again trying to exploit us and I believe that could have happened if we had not stuck to the position that they need to honour their obligations first before we could go to Botswana,” he said.

“We could have been stranded in Botswana right now, which could have been really embarrassing but now we know and we will be more careful.”

Mubaiwa’s comments come after both Dynamos and Highlanders were criticised for their failure to make full use of their potential as big brands after accepting to play in a tournament that had no prize money.

The Dynamos boss, however, defended their decision to enter into an agreement with the tournament organisers in the first place.

“We thought we were dealing with genuine people. In fact, we even sent our own representatives to Botswana to assess the situation during the tournament’s launch and they assured us that everything was in order,” he said.

“Remember, we had started discussions about this tournament at the beginning of the year and we had several meetings with them. Even the Zifa vice-president [Omega Sibanda] was involved so everything seemed okay, not knowing that we would encounter problems ahead.

“Luckily, we then agreed that they should deposit the money they had promised into our account first before we left for us to have some security. That’s when all the problems started.

“It was only on Wednesday when I received a call from one of the organisers saying they would no longer be able to honour their initial commitment and they would only be able to pay on Saturday morning. By that time we were already preparing to leave for Botswana and the players were already in the team bus. Obviously it is disappointing on our part because we were supposed to play a league match.”

Joy Foundation founder Joy Setshedi issued an apology on Friday, citing “unforeseen circumstances” for the cancellation.

“The Joy Foundation wishes to apologise profoundly for the cancellation and would like to assure the public of their continued intent to stage the tournament at a later date. Those who bought tickets should return them to places they bought them for a refund,” Setshedi said in a statement published by Botswana publication Mmegi yesterday.

Bosso were the first to announce their withdrawal from the tournament, also citing the failure by tournament organiser Setshedi to meet the contractual obligations.