Tussle over Ghanaian defender rages on

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) is set to hear the status of Ghanaian defender Eric Atsigah who signed for Be Forward Wanderers from Masters Security.

The hearing to be held at FAM offices on Tuesday in Blantyre follows Masters Security’s failure to clear the player whom they claim is still contracting to them.

FAM licensing and compliance manager Casper Jangale confirmed in an interview yesterday that the hearing was postponed this week.

“The hearing is about the status of the player. We want to establish if he has a contract or not based on the facts of the matter,” he said.

Atsigah, versatile fullback, was reportedly destined to sign for Silver Strikers during the mid-season break. However, it transpired later that he had joined the Nomads as a free agent.

In an interview yesterday, Masters general secretary Christopher Njeula insisted that they own the player.

He said the player did not sign a contract, but they had a gentleman’s agreement that he will sign a three-year deal.

“In fact he got signing on fee part payment of K2 million. We agreed that he would sign the contract once we have paid the balance. This is why we argue that he is still our player,” Njeula said.

He said they are not blocking Atsigah from joining Wanderers but rather they want to force him to “pay back the signing on fee.’

Wanderers chairperson Gift Mkandawire has since welcomed the hearing.

He was quoted in The Daily Times as saying that  the hearing would give the player an opportunity to choose the club he wants to play for.

“We have no problem meeting FAM and Masters. We want this player in our camp and for sure, this meeting will help us reaffirm our desire of taking him on board,” Mkandawire said. n