COSMOS U-turns on sulumba deal
South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) outfit Jomo Cosmos has said it will not register striker Muhamad Sulumba for this season and, instead, they intend to loan him back to Blantyre United.
Cosmos owner and coach Jomo Sono confirmed in an interview from Johannesburg on Monday, saying the development is a result of the failure by one of their foreign players to acquire a permanent resident permit (PRS).
“What happened was that one of our players applied for a PRS having spent the required period here, but due to some technicalities, it wasn’t approved.
“Now, that has put us in a tight situation because we are supposed to register five foreigners, but now we have six—two Zimbabweans, two from that side [Malawi], one from Burundi and the other from Cote d’ Ivore, and that meant we had to shelve the registration of one of them,” said Sono.
He said following a meeting he convened with management and technical panel, it was decided that Sulumba should not be registered and instead be loaned back to Blantyre United.
“I have instructed our agent that side Ben [Chiwaya] to talk to his former club and see if they can get him on loan until January next year when we are hoping to have a slot for a foreign player.”
Commenting on Sulumba’s compatriot Micium Mhone, Sono said: “With the policeman it is okay. We will register him, we are just waiting for his former team Blue Eagles to approve his ITC [international transfer certificate]. Otherwise, we do not have much time as the deadline for registration is tomorrow [today].”
However, The Nation has established that Cosmos are yet to pay transfer fees for both players estimated to be around K28 million [K15 million for Mhone and K12 million for Sulumba].
And asked why they have not paid up to now, Sono said: “That is being processed. It’s no big deal, they will be sorted out.”
Sulumba, who signed a three-year contract with Cosmos, could not be reached for comment, but United’s technical director Lawson Nakoma on Monday confirmed having been informed about the development by Chiwaya.
“I have asked them to send official communication regarding the issue. I also asked for clarification regarding the issue of payment and they assured me that it is being done. They also need to specify on who will be responsible for his perks,” he said.
Eagles’ vice-general secretary Benjamin Msowoya said they have agreed on the mode of payment with Cosmos and had instructed Football Association of Malawi (FAM) yesterday to issue Mhone’s ITC.
