JS KABYLIE PLAYERS OWED SALARIES

MBABANE - Algerian side, JS Kabylie’s recent defeat has been allegedly attributed to the team’s financial challenges.

According to sources close to the team, things are not going well for the team as the players have allegedly engaged in a go-slow after the team failed to pay them January salaries. JS Kabylie will play Royal Leopard in the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday. The second leg of the continental cup competition will be played in the team’s home venue, the November 1 1954 Stadium. Kick-off time is 7pm. “The financial challenges are so bad that they have been prohibited from recruiting new players because they have debts, which they incurred over the years. Even former players are still owed their salaries there. Things are not easy,” asserted the source.

The source said the last straw was this past month when the players did not get their salaries. “The players did not get their salaries for January. This is the very reason they are midway in the table, in the past, JS Kabylie would be among the best top four teams. The recent 2-1 defeat was a proof the players could not take it anymore,” alleged the source. Kabylie lost 2-1 to Constantine on January 30. The 14-time league winning side has a squad of 32 players who earn a monthly purse of €15 000, which is approximately E260 000. When multiplied by the 32 players, this equals to E8.3 million. According to the source, this is the average monthly wage bill for the North African side. They are currently perched on the ninth spot with 24 points after 14 games.

The CAF Confederation Cup last year’s runners-up lost 0-1 to the Edwin Matsebula-coached side in the first leg which was played on November 28 last year at Mavuso Sports Centre. The second leg has been postponed three times due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions.

Scheduled

The game was initially scheduled for December 5. Efforts to get comments from JS Kabylie coach Ammar Souayah were futile as he was not reached immediately when contacted yesterday. Efforts to get a comment from Leopard coach Edwin Matsebula were also futile as he was not immediately reached as he was reportedly at training. However, Leopard PRO Frank Hurube said they were not shaken by the news coming from the north. “There are lot of news coming from Algeria, we have heard those of salaries, sometimes they communicate to me and play these mind games.We are not scared, we have a second leg to honour,” Hurube said. He said they will be leaving for Algeria this morning via Qatar. From Doha they will then connect a flight to Algeria and are expected to arrive on Friday.

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