DR Congo’s U-20 women’s national team spent the night in one room and refused to leave their hotel in protest of unpaid allowances.
The Leopards Dames are fresh from being eliminated from the Colombia 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers by Burundi after losing 4-2 on aggregate over a week ago.
On Sunday, the team, accommodated at the Kampo Hotel in Kinshasa, gathered in one of the rooms at the hotel and refused to leave the premises unless their demands were met.
“We are here at the Kampo Hotel, all the players crowded into one room. We are claiming our bonuses from the matches against Zambia and Burundi. We are going through difficult times with nothing to eat; we are really exposed,” said Brigitte Ngamita, team captain.
The girls had had been demanding for bonuses from their first round victory over Zambia as well as the latest second round tie against Burundi.
“The leaders asked us to play, and they reassured us that at the end of the day our bonuses will be disbursed and we will collect them. But we are informed that our bonuses have already been ready for a long time, if this is the case, we are not going to leave (the Kampo hotel), and we are not going to take the so-called “100 USD” transport, then that it is absolutely worthless,” Ngamita said.
Ngamita also she insisted that the team needed to be paid some of the players had come from far regions and had no means to return back to their homes.
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