Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Petros Kausiyo
26 February 2008
Harare — Dynamos vice-chairman Simon Sachiti was assaulted by some former DeMbare players and marshals on Sunday night as the Harare soccer giants celebrated their triumph in the Nestle Champion of Champions Charity Shield.
The incident happened at Pamview Village - a complex in the Willowvale industrial area owned by former Dynamos chairman Ignatius Pamire, who also leads the club's marketing arm.
Apparently an informal Dynamos party was in full swing at the venue as some of the team's players, officials, former players and supporters were celebrating their 2-1 aggregate win over rivals Highlanders in the season-opening Charity Shield.
Sachiti was in the company of club secretary Cremio Mapfumo and assistant coach David George.
The incident happened just a few days after DeMbare finally confirmed the appointment of a new executive led by Harare businessman Partson Moyo. There had been fierce jostling for the executive posts - especially the chairmanship - and the appointment of Moyo might have disappointed some factions within the volatile club.
Sachiti was retained in that executive as club vice-chairman.
It was not immediately clear last night as to whether the incident at Pamview on Sunday was linked to any factional fighting.
Sources said former Dynamos centerback Henry Chari and a group of others, including the team's marshals, challenged Sachiti on a number of things related to the Charity Shield final.
They were not happy that former Dynamos players were forced to pay to watch the game against Bosso while the marshals questioned why they were not deployed to perform their regular duties at the stadium.
Sachiti, said the sources, told them that Dynamos was not in control of the game because the Charity Shield was controlled by the sponsors with clubs getting an appearance fee.
And in the heat of the argument, Sachiti was assaulted. "It appears that Chari and some of the former players are not happy with Sachiti for one reason or another as they feel he and Cremio Mapfumo (club secretary) have been giving them a raw deal at Dynamos," the sources said.
Repeated efforts to try and get a comment from Sachiti were unsuccessful last night, but sources close to the saga revealed that Chari and his colleagues were demanding that he should step down as club vice-chairman. Newly-appointed Dynamos chairman Moyo confirmed the incident yesterday and indicated that his executive would meet today to deliberate on the issue.
Moyo said although he had still not received a written report from Sachiti, the veteran administrator had briefed him about events leading to the altercation. The Dynamos chairman said they had also summoned members of the club's security to explain the events that led to Sachiti being assaulted. "The vice-chairman has made a verbal report about the attack that happened last night (Sunday) at a drinking place. "I am waiting for a written report from him about it.
"According to the vice-chairman, one of the former players was not pleased that he was denied entry into the match venue but we were not in control of the gates at the Charity Shield. It was the sponsors and the PSL who were in charge, as you know this game was for charity. "We have an executive meeting tomorrow (today) and I have summoned the Dynamos security to come and explain as well. We are treating this matter seriously because we do not condone any form of violence," Moyo said.
The Harare businessman said his executive would, after their meeting today, decide whether the issue needed to be handled by the club management or the Dynamos board of trustees headed by Richard Chiminya. "It is only after the meeting when we have gathered all the facts that we can ascertain whether it is an issue for the executive, the former players or the board of trustees.
"But, of course, we are indeed concerned and I made it clear when I came in that we have to do away with unproductive politics at Dynamos, let us all work together to have the glamour back at the club," Moyo said. The stocky DeMbare boss also revealed that his executive had resolved to play their African Champions League fixture at Gwanzura despite the pathetic condition of the pitch.
Dynamos host Swaziland giants Royal Leopards in a preliminary round, second leg tie with DeMbare having won 1-0 in the first leg courtesy of a Lazarus Muhoni strike. Moyo said Dynamos, who held their first of a series of pre-match meetings with Zifa yesterday, had toyed with the idea of switching the game to Barbourfields after it emerged that Rufaro would now not be available at least until March 16.
"We had been hoping to use Rufaro, but it is not yet ready. "We have been told that it will only be ready by the time we play our first home league game against Lancashire Steel on March 16.
"We were also viewing Barbourfields as a strong possibility for this game, but after we met and discussed the issue we settled for Gwanzura because we feel we owe it to our supporters to play there."
Moyo also revealed their worry about the poor condition of the pitch at Gwanzura and said they had engaged the Harare City Council with a view to having major improvements done to the pitch, which resembled a wheat field at the weekend.
The Dynamos boss also announced the entry charges for the match in which the DeMbare fans would have to pay more than they paid for the Charity Shield clash against Highlanders.
The cheapest ticket for the African Champions League match will be going for $30 million, with the lower west grandstand being pegged at $50 million while the VIP section would be divided into two parts where one section will cost $100 million and the VVIP going for $150 million.
"We have resolved to divide the upper west into sections which is the VIP and the VVIP just like what was done for the Charity Shield and these two sections will be charged differently.
"We are also going to beef the security for this important Caf match through the hiring of more police details and marshals, but we would also want to really appeal to our fans to ensure they do not invade the pitch because it will invite a penalty from Caf," said Moyo.
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