Players must not hold country at ransom � BFA

Mqondisi Dube | Friday June 30, 2017 17:52

The Zebras play Zambia in tomorrow’s COSAFA Cup quarter-final in Rustenburg, amid a revolt over allowances.

The players threatened to abort the trip until their dues, dating back to 2015, were paid.

“It is not that we are refusing that we owe them. But you wonder why they wait until the last minute, when they have all the time to talk about the issue.

We have been updating them, and the matter is with the ministry (of sports) and definitely, they will be paid,” Malesu said.

He said players were given a choice; those who wanted to remain and the others who were prepared to go to South Africa, even without their dues paid.

The team had to leave late, well after 9pm for Rustenburg. “We are working around the clock to clear their dues. We have made a commitment that this will never happen again.

We appreciate that we owe them but the players should also look at the bigger picture; the country’s flag and their own careers,” Malesu said yesterday.

He is confident that with the matter now in government’s hands, the impasse would be swiftly resolved.

“The ministry is still checking the authenticity of what is owed. They cannot just pay.” Malesu said the team has made commitments that it will play Zambia tomorrow.

The issue of player allowances has refused to go, and has intensified since the infamous Morocco boycott way back in 2006.

Successive BFA leaderships have failed to deal decisively with the matter and the latest rumblings point is a cause for concern.