FCB Nyasa Bullets have said they have no choice but to compensate their former Zimbabwean midfielder Ronald Chitiyo $15 200 (about K26.6 million) to avoid further Fifa sanctions.
Bullets challenged the Fifa organ’s ruling, but the world football governing body upheld it’s punishment to compensate Chitiyo for breach of contract.
This follows a decision by Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber’s decision to ban the People’s Team from signing new players, until the fine is paid.
However, according to Fifa rules and regulations on disputes, it is not automatic that even after paying the fine, the ban will be lifted.
The rules stipulate that “paying a fine is a required step to begin the process of having the ban lifted”.
In an interview yesterday, Bullets acting chief executive officer Albert Chigoga said considering the hefty appeal fee, they engaged the player to pursue an out of court settlement, which he turned down.
Said Chigoga: “The player signed a performance-based contract with Bullets, but his performance fell short of our expectations in line with the contract.
“Then, we released the player on mutual consent, but when he returned to Zimbabwe, the player opted to sue us and Fifa made its determination without hearing the side of Bullets.
“We contested the decision to Fifa after learning that even FAM [Football Association of Malawi] was not served with any case involving us and the player.”
Chigoga said their legal representatives requested Fifa to share the grounds of their determination “which they provided to us”.
He said looking at the grounds, Bullets wrote Fifa “explaining how we released the player consistent with terms of his performance-based contract, “but Fifa said we can appeal to CAS”.
“Now, the only available option is to pay him as per the determination. Failure which we cannot register any new players. It’s a conditional determination,” said the Bullets CEO
Chitiyo will get K26.6 million from Bullets. | Courtesy of Nyasa Bullets
