Wanderers face Drago headache
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday July 31, 2020 12:36
The Serbian is demanding full payment if his contract is terminated, and there appears to be a deadlock in talks.
The club has said it is struggling to bring Drago to the negotiating table. The coach has been in Gaborone since the country went on a lockdown in March. He was expected back in Palapye when the lockdown was lifted in May.
Drago said he would not be in Palapye anytime soon and has demanded that his contract be paid out in full. He said he has handed the matter to his legal advisors.
He said from their interactions, things had turned sour with the club management and appeared irreparable. “The negotiations are not favourable, but it is okay with me. I want to move on peacefully, and I hope they pay off the contract. I still love Morupule like I love other clubs I have worked with,” Drago said.
Drago added he had a bad experience with some local clubs that he had previously worked for and did not want a repeat of that. He said he was owed a combined P400,000 by four local clubs and had learnt his lessons.
“Many clubs in the country owe me a lot of money, but I don’t want these issues to go to FIFA because it is not good for Botswana football.”
The coach’s contract with Wanderers has 12 months left. He said the club proposed a month’s notice and he could not agree to such and other terms that he could not reveal.
Drago said the club has also been defaulting on his payments, but he never complained. He was hopeful the club pays so that he can focus elsewhere. Club chairperson, Nelson Kgosipheko refuted the claims of defaulting on payments. Kgosipheko said they had made several attempts to get the coach to come to Palapye so they could negotiate, but their efforts were futile.
“It is unfortunate that there are those issues. We don’t owe the coach. We have never defaulted,” Kgosipheko said.
“The sad part is the coach is refusing to come to the table for negotiations. Instead, he communicates through phone calls and letters. It makes it difficult to reach a compromise. I am hoping that he would do the right thing, then we can part amicably.”
He said they were ready to move on, as they have interest in other coaches. Regarding Nare, he said there were no formal negotiations with any coach.
“We have not entered in any formal negotiations with anyone. Until we finish with the coach (Drago) then we can open negotiations.”
The former Security Systems coach also dismissed the speculation. “I have not agreed to a contract with Morupule,” Nare briefly said.