Dynamos legend Chamu Musanhu says the club should now be performing at the highest level in the CAF Champions after reaching the finals in 1998 but has instead regressed.
The Glamour Boys, who were under the guidance of Sunday “Mhofu” Chidzambwa, came within 90 minutes of winning the CAF Champions League for the first time but lost to Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast in controversial circumstances in the second leg of the final.
The first leg had ended goalless at the National Sports Stadium in Harare.
Speaking in an interview with The Herald, Musanhu said reaching the CAF Champions League final should have been a turning point for Dynamos. He said:
That was supposed to be the turning point in the history of Dynamos. But, instead of going forward, the club actually moved several steps backwards.
Why?
I am not apologetic about this. I think the executive which was there during that time should rate as the most corrupt in the history of the club.
Players were promised heaven on earth. There were a lot of false promises. I think that executive messed everything up for the Glamour Boys.
Imagine, we were made to travel to Malawi by road. We were made to sleep at the airport back in those days when the campaign was still in its infancy.
It was hell all over. But with the results coming, everything started to change for the better. We were actually promised houses in the event we reached the final.
Musanhu said the houses never came and on top of that, the players were accused of having sold the game. He said:
Surprisingly, after putting our heads on the block in defence of not only the Dynamos badge but the country’s flag, we were accused of match-fixing.
Match-fixing?
Yes, indeed, match-fixing. The executive accused us of having cheaply given out the game to the Ivorians.
We couldn’t believe our ears as players. That was something disrespectful, especially for us having defended our badge with our skin.
Five or six of the players were implicated and they were fined close to US$20 000. That dampened everything. It was hell on earth.
We couldn’t get the promised houses. Instead of being celebrated as heroes, we were treated like villains.
That chapter is regrettable. That was the time Dynamos was supposed to use to turn around its name, start to be run as a business, those things, but that actually moved the team backward, if anything.
Among the Dynamos players who were in the squad for the 1998 CAF Champions League final were Lenny Gwata, Desmond Maringwa, Ernest Chirambadare, Makwinji Soma-Phiri, and captain Memory Mucherahowa.
Unfortunately, Mucherahohwa missed the final following a head-butt by an Ivorian player in the tunnel just before kick-off. | The Herald
I have followed the “once” glamour boys from the age of 10 in 1980 – even travelled to Mozambique for that infamous Champions League campaign. It is really disheartening to note that Boardroom squabbles do not seem to end at that “former”Football Club and that takes away the livelihood and future of the players. The executive only comes in to loot and doesn’t even care about the squad and what’s at stake!