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Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
HIGHLANDERS FC have approached world soccer governing body Fifa as they seek to recover dues owed to them by South African National First Division side, Witbank Spurs over transfer fees for Cleopas Dube who moved to the neighbouring country in 2014.
Bosso sold Dube to Spurs in 2014 for $30 000, but to date, the Mpumalanga province-based National First Division side has only paid $7 608.
The club wrote to the South African Football Association (Safa) through Zifa in a desperate attempt to recover the remaining $22 392 but after two months with no response from the South African football governing body, Bosso felt it prudent to approach Fifa.
Highlanders’ chief executive officer Ndumiso Gumede said they had been left with no option but to engage Fifa to recover their dues.
He said they had to engage Safa as Spurs were not responding to their letters of demand. Spurs have since sold Dube to newly promoted South African Premier Soccer League side FC Baroka for around R700 000.
Gumede said they will also pursue the 20 percent they are entitled to from Dube’s transfer fee from Spurs to Baroka.
“We have decided that we have been patient enough with Witbank Spurs as far as Cleopas’ transfer fees are concerned.
“They asked to pay the money in tranches of $10 000 but they only paid once but Dube played extremely well for them attracting interest from a Premiership side.
“You always get to a point where you say enough is enough and since Safa failed to respond to our letter in two months, we asked Zifa to now direct the complaint to Fifa, who can be ruthless and take the money from Safa.
“It is not nice to act in this way in football as the game is supposed to be fair play but you get to a point where you feel you can’t be cheated any longer,” he said.
“When the striker moved to Witbank Spurs, we included a sale-on clause indicating that we will get 20 percent should he move.
“They sold him to Baroka and we’re getting reports that he was sold for R700 000, meaning that we’re entitled to R140 000.”
Dube, who scored 13 goals for Spurs in the 2015-16 First Division and finished as runner-up in the top goal scorers’ to
Baroka’s Thabiso Kutumela, had also attracted pre-season interests from Bloemfontein Celtics, Free State Stars and Golden Arrows.
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