MIGHTY Warriors players staged a training boycott on arrival in Lusaka for the decisive African Women Championships (AWC) final round football second leg against Zambia played on Sunday, which could be the main reason for their defeat in the match.
HENRY MHARA IN LUSAKA, ZAMBIA
The Rosemary Mugadza-coached side lost 1-0 at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka to lose the tie 2-0 on aggregate, a result that brought their AWC campaign to a bitter end.
It was a sorry sight as players slumped to the pitch in tears at the final whistle in a match they dominated and from which they deserved at least a draw.
Mugadza tried her best to keep a calm face as she granted post-match interviews to the Press, but broke down as soon as she arrived at Golden Peacock Hotel where the team was staying.
A source has revealed to NewsDay Sport that they were owed $580 each in allowances for the games against Botswana in the previous qualifier. The bill for the Botswana tie amounted to $9 000.
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However, the source said the players were given just $100 each to travel to Zambia when they left on Thursday with a promise to get the rest on arrival in Lusaka.
In protest, the players refused to do their training sessions on Thursday and Friday and had light training on the eve of the match.
“We refused to train on Tuesday and called off the strike after Zifa CEO (Jonathan) Mashingaidze promised us our money. We were given $100 each before departure and promised the reminder on arrival. When we arrived there was no money and we decided not to train.
In fact, we had resolved not to play the match. Besides the Botswana allowances, and those from the Zambia first leg match, they owe us thousands of dollars from previous games. We haven’t been paid for a long time now and for them to give us $100, we felt it was an insult,” said the player.