BASOP! IT’S ZERO PAY AT SUNDOWNS!

MBABANE – Like symptoms of flu, it started with a few irritations and now it is full-blown.

This is the story of local football teams following the outbreak of the novel COVID-19 (coronavirus) which resulted in the suspension of football games and any other sporting activities, not just in Eswatini but the world over.

It is nearly three months now since the football blackout in the kingdom and teams have been struggling to sustain themselves as they mainly depend on gate takings.

Without gate takings, it means teams do not make any income and this has resulted in some of them imposing salary cuts on players and staff. Some teams were on record that they would effect up to 50 per cent salary cuts.
Now, Denver Sundowns will be the first team to literally not pay any salaries.

Team Chairman Mark Carmichael made it no secret that the outbreak of the virus had come with heavy costs for teams since they could not generate income.
He said nobody had an answer to how best teams could deal with the current situation and that the answer only depended on finances.

The chairman affirmed that the team players would not be getting salaries for May and also attributed this to the fact that the season should have come to an end and most of the players’ contracts had come to an end.

“A number of the players’ contracts have come to an end. The players are in the dark whether their contracts will be renewed or they will be released. Who then do you pay and who don’t you pay? There will be no salary payments but we will help those players with running contracts by providing allowances for essentials such as rent and food,” said the chairman.

He added that they did not want the players to become beggars so they would help those players with running contracts.
Carmichael further disclosed that a lot of restrictions came up following the outbreak of the virus and costs were the biggest challenge.

The chairman said they did not know when soccer games would resume despite reports that games may resume in the next month or so.
He added that this was not a normal occurrence but something that already exists and they must find ways to deal with the situation from the bottom up as the truth was that there was no way in which they currently generated income.

He said the whole world was struggling and made an example of global top players such as Juventus’s Cristiano Ronaldo whom he said donated their bonuses and helped where they could. However, the chairman acknowledged that these were cases in the First World countries but said the point was helping one another.

He also suggested that a fund for clubs be created where players in need could get assistance.

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