Something is not adding up on how Victor Nyirenda signed for Rwanda’s APR and now Vietnam’s Dong Nai with Escom United’s claims of the Flames striker’s ownership undermined by their indifference towards seeking Fifa’s intervention.
Escom chairperson Fanuel Nkhono and general secretary Richard Samba have since 2009 been claiming APR are failing to pay Nyirenda’s $10 000 (K1.7 million) loan fee.
Yet, last November, APR resold Nyirenda to Dong. His move to Vietnam suggests a full transfer was involved as Fifa restricts a club to whom a player has been loaned to resell him.
“The club that has accepted a player on a loan basis is not entitled to transfer him to a third club without the written authorisation of the club that released the player on loan and the player concerned,” reads www.fifa.com.
Weekend Nation was curious to establish how Escom, who are without a sponsor and were recently in pay dispute with their off-loaded players, could allow APR to ‘illegally’ resell Nyirenda to Dong.
Escom also never disclosed if they got a full transfer fee for Zicco Mkanda who they loaned to Mozambique’s Maxaquene in 2009. Mkanda is now at his third club after joining Liga Malcumana on a K6 million [about $36 000] transfer from Desportivo de Beira recently.
On Monday, Nkhono said: “We asked the GS to write to FAM [to seek Fifa’s intervention]. It is not true that APR paid for the player. He went there on loan.”
Samba echoed Nkhono: “There was a gentleman’s agreement and in all these years we have been expecting APR to honour it. APR are an army team; hence, they are difficult to deal with.”
If Nyirenda joined APR on a year-long loan in 2009, Escom would have, at the expiry of the loan, automatically repossed him in 2010.
“A professional may be loaned to another club on the basis of a written agreement between him and the clubs concerned…the minimum loan period shall be the time between two registration periods,” adds Fifa’s website.
It is also impossible for an association to which a player was loaned to issue a clearance as Rwanda FA did. The Rwanda association could only have done that if Nyirenda was wholly owned by APR, according to Fifa Article 10 on loan of professionals.
APR general secretary Adolp Kalisa on Monday and Tuesday said they resold Nyirenda to Dong because they signed him on an outright contract from Escom.
“The chairman of Escom and the GS signed the agreement for a two-year contract. The player we got on loan was Chiukepo Msowoya, but we paid full transfer fees for Elvis Kafoteka and Victor [Nyirenda],” Kalisa said while refusing to disclose the actual fee they paid.
Kalisa claimed he came to Malawi and paid cash through the Escom chairperson and secretary, but he refused to provide a copy of the contract.
Despite reminders, Samba could also not produce the copy of the contract until we went to press.
FAM commercial manager Casper Jangale promised to retrieve the original copy of the International Transfer Clearance (ITC) and its accompanying conditions as instructed by Escom.
“We received a request last year from the club in Vietnam requesting APR of Malawi for clearance and we told them APR is from Rwanda. In the electronic transfer system, it is indicating that the Rwanda FA cleared Nyirenda,” Jangale said on Tuesday.
FAM issues an ITC on instruction of the selling club, in this case Escom, after agreeing terms with the buying side.
“Players registered at one association may only be registered at a new association once the latter has received an International Transfer Certificate (hereinafter: ITC) from the former association,” reads Article 4.
The association issues the clearance on the understanding that the selling party is happy with the terms of the agreement. Usually, there is no loan fee attached on a player being transferred.
Article 8 adds: “The application for registration of a professional must be submitted together with a copy of the player’s contract. The relevant decision-making body has discretion to take account of any contractual amendments or additional agreements that have not been duly submitted to it.”
Now, Fifa has made it clear it can only intervene if someone lodged a complaint over Nyirenda. Escom have since 2009 never instructed FAM to seek Fifa’s intervention.
“Please note that we have no information on the player you mention. We have not received a claim from a club or a national football association and, therefore, we cannot comment further on it,” Fifa Media Department said in a response to a questionnaire.
Nyirenda in an earlier interview insisted that Escom and APR were better placed to sort out his ownership wrangle.
An expert in player’s transfer, who opted for anonymity unless he reads Nyirenda’s contract with Escom, noted that Escom could be fighting a losing battle unless they prove that his initial contract with Escom had not expired.
