Jangale parries Civo’s allegation
Struggling Civo United have accused Football Association of Malawi (FAM) facility and transfer matching system (TMS) manager Casper Jangale of allegedly trying to aid John Lanjesi’s disputed transfer to Mighty Be Forward Wanderers.
However, Jangale has parried the accusations involving the Flames’ regular who claims he is free to leave the Lilongwe team, which in turn, insists he is bound by a pre-season contract he recently signed.
Civo general secretary Rashid Ntelela said they had since lodged a complaint to the Super League of Malawi (Sulom), to which the club is affiliated, claiming that Jangale, through a text message, promised to speed up the defender’s transfer.
Ntelela, however, for what he claimed were ethical reasons, refused to disclose the actual SMS content and Jangale’s identity. The Civo GS said he expects a hearing over the same where he would spill the beans.
“Indeed people are not happy that those who are supposed to help us when we are aggrieved are directly involved in the [transfer] issue. It seems FAM and Sulom handle institutional teams differently. This was a worse scenario. I was actually shown the text message by the player,” Ntelela explained.
The player, contacted before he left for Egypt with the Flames on Friday, denied showing such a message to Civo officials as claimed by Ntelela.
Jangale yesterday denied texting Lanjesi, but that the player approached his office seeking advice over his contract status at Civo.
Said Jangale: “The advice was simple. He had a contract with Civo which was expiring on the 25th April [2015]. He was at liberty to enter into any pre-contract agreements with any team of his choice under the 1995 Bosnan ruling. But along the way, he revealed that he had signed another contract with Civo which was not an extension, but rather a pre-contract since it was commencing on 1st May 2015.
“His appeal for advice was simple; ‘What should I do in circumstances like these?’ And my answer was simple [that] since what he had signed with Civo was a pre-contract to commence at a later date, under football rules, he was free to ask for a termination, but he should expect the club to demand a compensation which is normal under such circumstances. Even under a running contract, there are provisions for termination.”
As a way forward, Jangale has since vowed to clear the defender who at the time of writing was in Egypt with the Flames for a warm-up match played last night.
Lanjesi wrote to FAM general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda on May 12 2015: “Following up on my request to withdraw from my pre-contract with Civo United FC which was brought to your attention over a month ago.
“I believe I followed the right procedure in announcing my request as per rules because the contract was not yet operational. And I even offered to pay compensation for the withdrawal.
“Unfortunately, I have had several meetings with Civo officials, but we cannot seem to reach an agreement, I am being forced to still play for the team against my wishes. Right now I am not able to play because of this impasse and my form is suffering. I will end up losing my place in the Flames.”
Nyirenda and Sulom treasurer Tiya Somba Banda had not responded to calls and questionnaires as we went to press yesterday last night.
Currently bottom of the TNM Super League with three points from seven games, Civo, who are struggling to score, have this season lost attacker Jabulani Linje to the Nomads.
