DYNAMOS assistant coach Tonderai Ndiraya has denied sabotage allegations levelled against him by a section of the team’s supporters, describing the accusations as nonsense.
BY HENRY MHARA
The Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions hit a purple patch in the last few weeks, collecting just a point from a possible nine, a run that ended just last Sunday when they defeated FC Platinum 1-0.
A section of the supporters blamed Ndiraya for the poor run, accusing him of sabotaging his boss David Mandigora.
Things came to a boil after the FC Platinum game when the disgruntled group almost manhandled Ndiraya on his way out of Rufaro Stadium.
Yesterday, Ndiraya poured his heart out in an interview with NewsDay Sport after the team’s training session.
Asked to respond to the allegations, Ndiraya said: “That is all nonsense and ludicrous. There is nothing like that. People will always talk, especially when the team is not doing well. People should really look at the reasons why the team is not performing and stop pointing fingers at individuals.
“That is a bit primitive. We want people to look at technical issues and try to see how we can improve the team going into the next match.”
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Ndiraya said he enjoyed a very good relationship with Mandigora.
“We have a very good relationship,” he said.
“We always travel together and eat together. I can safely say we do everything together so for a person of my stature to go behind and sabotage that same team I’m working for would be very stupid, if I can put it that way.
“I’m not stupid. If there are some people who do that, then they are stupid. Unfortunately, I’m not that type. If my boss gets fired, then I would also lose my job. Why would I want to do that?”
He added: “I’m very loyal to Mandigora. When we win, we win together and when we lose, we lose together as a team.
“I encourage fans to support the team, especially when we are under pressure and when we are down. In that particular bad spell, we really need supporters to stand up and rally behind the team. I’m glad some of the supporters continue to do so and that’s why we came up with that positive result. But, of course, there are some unruly elements among the supporters who would want to cause unnecessary confusion. Ndiraya said the issue had been discussed, adding that Mandigora had dismissed the allegations.
“We have discussed it and the good thing is my boss never took the allegations seriously because they mean nothing,” Ndiraya said.
“We have been together for some time now and for some people to start coming out now with those unfounded allegations is regrettable. There are elements out there who are trying to get between me and my boss and I don’t think it would work because we are a unit, we shall remain so and work even harder for the good of the team.”
Dynamos’ next league match is away to How Mine.
