Inside sport: Forget Marriot, save Dembare

If Dynamos are to survive relegation, then the DeMbare family should stop finger pointing at Bernard Marriotand concentrate more on saving their team from the drop to Division One football first Fine, Marriot might have erred in one way or the other, but what is important right now is for the Dynamos family to forget who is right or wrong but to get united and fight for survival Some might argue that the team should get relegated to ‘teach Marriot a lesson’ but who loses in the end — the Dynamos family would be hit harder than Marriot All those sweet memories at Rufaro Stadium and all those travels to Bulawayo to play Highlanders and those journeys to Mandava to face FC Platinum and the Harare Derby against Caps United would all be gone

In their place, there would be nothing called Dynamos because relegation would mean the end of the 1998 CAF Champions League finalists because no-one — even Marriot himself — would still be interested This is possible because one of the teams with a strong history in Zimbabwean football Black Aces no longer exists after suffering relegation while Zimbabwe Saints are failing to raise their heads above the water Marriot is obviously happy that Dynamos is giving him a good monthly salary and a good financial reward in gate takings but those packs won’t be available in Division One to warrant his interest anymore There is a school of thought that is of the belief that teams in the Premiership would be increased to 20 to accommodate Dynamos but forget it because there is nothing like that as of now

Even if the teams were to be increased to 20, Dynamos would still find themselves down under because they are among the two teams that would face automatic relegation — that is, if there was a team increase at all

As long as Dembare finish among the bottom four teams come the end of the season, they will drop to Division One because already in Division One, there are four teams fighting for promotion into the Premiership That Dynamos will be saved because they have the backing of some big fishes in government is just beer talk because the Zifa and PSL rules cannot be bended overnight to suit the whims of the so-called big fishes Some have even taken time to spread word that Dynamos would be sold the N’ombeyaora Premiership franchise should Scott Sakupwanya’s team get promoted— that too is just beer talk Fine, Zifa have proposed that the teams be increased to 20 but that will only take effect in 2027 upon approval from the Zifa Assembly, the ultimate authority in Zimbabwean football

On that premise, it is important that the Dynamos family gather in their thousands at their team’s matches — home and away — to rally behind their team so that they pick up maximum points in most if not all their remaining matches There is nothing of benefit in boycotting Dynamos’ home matches because — after all — Marriot will still get his gate share percentage and go home to enjoy himself while the team continues to sink.

Source: The Standard Zimbabwe