- Players unpaid for three months
- GU has a wage bill of approximately P300 000
- GU official states that players could be paid this week
BONGANI MALUNGA
Gaborone United are currently experiencing unrest and turmoil as reports indicate that the club has struggled to pay players their full salaries, with an outstanding payment of three months wages. The players have reportedly been unhappy for a while but the situation reached an unfortunate climax as the players were believed to have threatened to boycott their game against Uniao Flamengo Santos this past Friday.
The club’s officials managed to persuade the players to honour their fixture against Santos, the team reportedly arrived less than an hour before kickoff. They eventually lost the game 2-1 and head coach Rodolfo Zapata stated in his post match remarks that the difficult preparation for the match took a toll on the players.
Gazette Sport has been informed that GU has a wage bill of approximately P300 000 per month and the club has been struggling to pay the players since the departure of former chairman Rapula Okaile.
“It is true that players are owed money, we owe them three months wages from last year. We have also failed to pay them in March but we are hopeful that this week they will receive their March salaries. We have scheduled a meeting with the players and we will update them on the possible processing of their salaries. The outstanding three months wages can only be paid at the end of the season, right now we are struggling because we do not have any financial backing,” said a GU official.
The official stated that they have been struggling financially due to Okaile’s exit. “When the former chairman left we plunged into a huge financial crisis, he was the club’s sole financier at the time. We have been given assistance here and there but it is still not enough, hopefully everything will be alright in the near future. The club might get a new sponsor at the end of the season,” the official concluded.
GU will face Township Rollers in their next game this weekend.