admin
Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
THE Footballers Union of Zimbabwe have come to the aide of midfielder Last Jesi.
The Zimbabwe international is involved in a nasty divorce with Sudanese giants Al Hilal.
Jesi, whose contract was terminated prematurely by the club earlier this year, experienced a nightmarish departure from Sudan.
The club held onto his passport and also refused to pay his outstanding dues.
FUZ president, Desmond Maringwa, said they have engaged the club to clear the salary arrears.
Jesi was paid US$10 000 on Tuesday evening.
But, the club are still holding onto his passport.
“I can confirm we have taken up the issue,” said Maringwa.
“We are basically assisting him on the processes to follow so that a win-win situation is achieved.
“Right now, it’s a bit premature to comment much on this issue, since there are so many things that have been done wrong by the club.
“But, we can confirm that he has been paid his outstanding salaries. We are also aware of the passport issue and we are seized with all those issues.”
Jesi signed a three-year contract with the Sudanese giants in September last year for a reported US$65 000 fee.
He made an instant impact, on arrival in Sudan, when he scored on his debut as the Omdurman-based side drew 1-1 against Hay-Al-Arab, in a Premier League match on December 28.
But, there have been complaints the club has always been paying his salary late.
Jesi featured for Al Hilal in five Champions League matches and was named man-of-the-match in two games.
However, he was released, barely seven months into his adventure.
The 26-year old midfielder is now pushing for a golden handshake, in the region of US$200 000, for the breach.
Three other foreign players were shown the exit by the Omdurman-based side mid-season, following the club’s failure to progress into the quarter-finals, of the CAF Champions League.
Jesi’s manager, George Deda, yesterday said Hilal should respect the player by giving him back his passport and honouring their contractual obligations.
“First and foremost, last Jesi’s contract was terminated by Hilal, not because of poor performance.
“In almost all the games that he played in the local league and the CAF Champions League, was voted man-of-the-match.
“Even in some tournaments in Tanzania and Egypt he also walked away with the man-of-the-match awards.
“What we are doing is that we have given the mandate to FUZ and FIFPRO and we have also copied some certain documents to ZIFA and FIFA regarding the termination.
“At no point did Last Jesi sleep on the street nor roam the streets of Sudan, like what has been said, elsewhere.
“The only thing that we are contesting right now is that the Sudanese officials are holding onto Jesi’s passport against the ethos of international laws.”
Deda said he could be forced to fly to Sudan to resolve the issue.
“When we pursued the issue of releasing his passport, they assured us that the passport was with the Sudanese Football Federation, and had promised to hand it to him by end of day (yesterday),” he said.
“Right now I am in Addis Ababa and I will be visiting the Zimbabwean Embassy in Ethiopia to get assistance.
“If I don’t get assistance, I will personally fly to Khartoum to make sure that this issue is resolved.
“We have about four teams in North and East Africa vying for his signature. But, without this passport, he cannot travel.
“So, that is another issue that FIFA are seized with at the moment.
“In fact, we have been working on the issue on a daily basis and the player is well-informed. We are following up everything by the rule book.
“It’s unfortunate this process has taken long. If a club doesn’t want a player anymore, why should they keep holding onto his passport?
“The boy is in a foreign country.”
Online Reporter