Dynamos Blame Defeat On Poor Travel Arrangements

DYNAMOS have blamed their 4-0 humiliating defeat by King Faysal of Ghana in the second leg of the Caf Confederation Cup first round soccer tie in Kumasi last Saturday on fatigue owing to poor travel arrangements as their interim executive failed to secure money for an early departure last week.

The Glamour Boys bowed out of the continental club competition in humiliating fashion as they lost 5-0 on aggregate after having suffered a 1-0 defeat in the first leg at the National Sports Stadium two weeks ago.

Dynamos interim chairman, Ignatius Pamire, said that they needed to acclimatise for at least five days in the hot and humid conditions in Ghana before clashing against King Faysal.

"The conditions were extremely bad for us in Ghana and our players were tired. We would have done better if we had gone about five days earlier to give the boys some time to acclimatise," said Pamire soon after the teams arrival at Harare International Airport yesterday.

A senior Dynamos player also blamed the defeat on the travel arrangements, which he described as "pathetic", and felt that the executive should have done better than the shoddy trip they endured.

"We arrived in Ghana around two in the morning and we never had time to rest. We were not given any food and the place was so hot that it was even difficult to wear the jerseys.

"We were also dehydrated kana ndiwewo tingahwine here (can we win in such circumstances)?," asked the player, who also asked not to be named.

The Glamour Boys also lost their only kit on their way to Ghana and the Zimbabwean Embassy in Ghana came to their rescue as they bought a new kit for the club.

Dynamos coach, Luke Masomere, was subjected to some humiliating bust-up with midfielder Andrew Chifamba who lashed out at him for playing him for only five minutes in last Saturdays match in Kumasi.

The usually disciplined Chifamba is said to have lashed out at Masomere as he expressed his discontent at being kept on the bench only to play a cameo role.

A senior Dynamos official confirmed yesterday that Chifamba "clashed" with his coach Masomere after Saturdays match and there was no love lost between the two.

"The player used some foul language when he exchanged harsh words with the coach and it was very embarrassing. Some of the Dynamos players and some members of the interim executive no longer have any respect and faith in the coach," said the same official, who asked not to be named.

But there was pandemonium at Harare International Airport yesterday as the team made its way to the bus when a group of the clubs supporters vented their anger on the executive, blaming them for the teams heavy defeat on Saturday.

Dynamos interim vice-chairman, Philip Mugadza, was nearly manhandled by the angry supporters whom the teams interim executive later described as "hired thugs and not genuine Dynamos supporters".

Mugadza had to be whisked away in a truck flanked by two "bodyguards" as the Dynamos supporters called for the entire executive to resign, accusing them of "mismanagement" and having "overstayed" at the club.

Dynamos interim treasurer, Victor Nyaumwe, said yesterday that they had identified some of the culprits and would like the police to take action against them.

"The people who came to the airport were just hired thugs who were sent to intimidate us. Genuine Dynamos supporters know the conditions we are working under in running this club and they understand our position," Nyaumwe said.

Interim chairman Pamire, who surprisingly left the scene without being confronted by the same supporters who seemed to have developed cold feet, scoffed at the "demonstration" and accused outside forces of being behind it.

"Some of these people are being used by outside forces who feel that the only way to get rid of us is to put unnecessary pressure on us so as to make it look like we are not doing what we are supposed to do.

"We have won a silverware already and some people are choosing to look at things narrowly and want to blame us but I dont think we have done badly.

"And if you really look at it, Dynamos is a big club which is supported by nearly seven million people and these so-called supporters who came here today are only about 10 to 15. So honestly how can you have a genuine demonstration with just 10 people?" asked Pamire.

Pamire also responded to the accusations of alleged financial mismanagement by some of the clubs supporters and said: "The question of finance is rather obvious. Some of these people do not know how it is like to run a club like Dynamos.

"We are generating little at the gates yet we needed close to $200 million to travel to Ghana. We made a loss of over $20 million in our home match against King Faysal because we incurred so many costs when we hosted them.

"Now people who dont have an idea and those who are being used by outside forces just accuse us of mismanaging the finances when there is actually nothing there to mismanage".

The supporters said that they also bought a kit for the club but the executive refused to use it.

Pamire, however, said that his executive had nothing to be ashamed of and will not step down until the elections are held.

"We believe elections are due in any case and I dont see any reason why we should resign.

"Im aware that elections are going to be held within the next six months. It could be next week, it could be any day so everyone should just wait and things will work out well for the club.

"People should stop fighting for the sake of the club and I dont really see the reason why anyone would want to blame us when we just played a few games in the season.

"We have not done badly, our team so far has beaten the big clubs though we lost to the so-called small clubs. The team is still new with a new coach and we can not be listed among the worst clubs in the league yet.

"I think Dynamos needs to return to legitimate authority so that we do not have too much politics at the club.

"There is people from outside who feel that we are hanging on to power and are causing all sorts of problems within the club. So I believe that once elections are held, there will be more sanity at the club than there is now," Pamire said.

Dynamos supporters chairman, Philemon Bonde, who travelled to Ghana with the team, addressed the supporters and thanked them for the "support" they showed the players and the coach.

"But Im not happy with what happened when we travelled and we will talk more at the meeting as there is a lot of people here," he said.