BB, Silver fault Kajoke ruling

FCB Nyasa Bullets and Silver Strikers have faulted a Football Association of Malawi (FAM) Player Status Committee ruling on the player transfer and ownership case involving striker Hassan Kajoke.

Headed by FAM executive member Felister Dossi, the committee on Wednesday delivered a 27-page ruling that ordered Kajoke, who signed for Silver while on contract with Bullets, to pay back the K3.9 million signing-on fee and a fine of K200 000.

Silver, on the other hand, have been fined K900 000 for player tapping. The club risks being barred from signing players for the next two transfer windows if it does not honour the fine.

Further, Kajoke’s manager Ken Mvula, who facilitated the controversial deal, has been fined K500 000.

However, Bullets chief administration manager Albert Chigoga  in an interview on Thursday said the verdict is a miscarriage of justice.

He said: “We are very dissatisfied with it. How on earth would you let people involved in the inducement of the player under contract with another club go scot-free? Is this not promoting impunity?

“The judgement hasn’t found our club in the wrong, yet we are denied the right to use our player until he repays in full money given as a token of inducement.

“How did FAM Player Status Committee fail to see an act of inducement when Silver paid a player which the judgement clearly found Silver to have acted inappropriately?

“The committee had an opportunity to straighten out things, but that opportunity has been fluffed. This is an embarrassing judgement.”

In the judgement, Silver were found guilty of contravening FAM Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players Article 24 (e).

Chigoga said the Lilongwe-based giants should have been given a stiffer punishment.

He said: “The actual fine for player inducement, according to the regulations is K500 and not K900 000.

“In my opinion, as well as reading the judgement carefully, Silver has paid a higher fine because their offence was more than player tapping.

“In any case therefore, Silver was supposed to be given unconditional ban from transfers. Additionally, Kajoke was not supposed to be suspended from football.”

“Silver is not supposed to be refunded as a lesson for its underhanded conduct of inducement. Player inducement elsewhere is a serious offence.”

But Silver company secretary Peter Masiye said Silver did not deserve the K900 000 fine.

He said: “We are not satisfied with the fact that we have been fined to pay K900 000 when we had shown the committee the evidence that it was Mr. Kajoke and his manager who approached us and lied to us that he is a  free agent.”

Masiye also called for FAM to regulate players’ managers to avoid transfer wrangles.

He said: “Going forward we will never trust the player managers or players themselves alone. We will do more due diligence by checking if the player is a free agent or not with FAM.