FOOTBALL PLAYERS DEMANDS!

DR Congo players threaten strike.

I've managed to keep them going this far but they won't go any further said DR Congo coach Claude LeRoy. DR Congo coach Claude LeRoy has warned that his team will not honour their African Cup of Nations quarter-final game against Egypt on Friday if their allowances remain unpaid.
The players are expecting US$25,000 each - $10,000 for qualifying for the finals and a further $15,000 for reaching the last eight. "If they are not paid, they will not play the quarter-final.That's absolutely sure, absolutely certain," said LeRoy at the team's hotel.
The Simbas nearly boycotted their opening Group B game against Togo, which they won 2-0, over the unpaid bonuses for reaching the finals. But the squad agreed to play the game after LeRoy said DR Congo president Joseph Kabila had made a promise that the matter would be sorted out. With the money yet to be paid, LeRoy said the patience of his players had finally run out. "All these horse-trading discussions go on for hours about bonuses but when are they going to arrive? "Has the special envoy [from Congo, who is to travel to Egypt with the money] left or not?...the lads have so often been let down.
"All this creates needless tension and perhaps, somewhere along the line, these sendings-off [in their first two games] can be explained as the frustration of people who have lost their cool because of the interminable hours spent talking, which also wear me out," LeRoy admitted. "There will be no quarter-final, not even if you applied all the pressure in the world on them," said the French coach. "But it's not blackmail. I've managed to keep them going this far but they won't go any further. "But I think all of this will be sorted out today (Monday) - or tomorrow (Tuesday) at the latest."

BBC NEWS REPORT.