Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
LIVID Chicken Inn FC have made damning allegations that midfielder Tichaona Chipunza was fraudulently cleared to join Nkana of Zambia, saying they were not consulted about issuing an international transfer clearance (ITC).
Tawengwa Hara, the Chicken Inn secretary, said they were shocked to read in the press that Chipunza had been cleared when his club had notified Zifa and the Football Association of Zambia that there were “some contractual issues” that needed to be attended to.
“As a club, we don’t even know how Chipunza was cleared. What we want to know is how he was cleared when we had written a letter to Zifa’s TMS (transfer matching system) manager Timothy Mazhindu alerting him not to clear the player and he acknowledged receipt of the letter. We also alerted FAZ, but now we’re reading in the press that our player has been cleared; this is a clear case of fraud,” said Hara.
In a letter addressed to the Zifa’s transfer matching system (TMS) manager and copied to Zifa president Felton Kamambo, chief executive officer Joseph Mamutse, FAZ and Nkana, Chicken Inn demanded that Chipunza’s ITC be withdrawn until the player’s status is determined.
Chicken Inn said they were irked to learn that the player had been cleared as a “free-agent” without determination by the Zifa Player Status Committee.
The Gamecocks alleged that the contract sent to Faz by Nkana may have been forged to facilitate the player’s registration.
“We put it to you that you fraudulently cleared the player to be registered by a Zambian club (Nkana FC) when we informed you that our consent is required since the player has some contractual obligations.
You ordered the Zambian FA to register the player with what they call ‘an expired contract’ which we do not have sight of and the ‘expired contract’ might be doctored by yourself to have the player cleared and registered in Zambia without our consent,” wrote Chicken Inn secretary Tawengwa Hara to Zifa.
“Please take note that you have to urgently withdraw the illegal clearance of the player and also withdraw the free agent you personally gave to the player without involvement of the player status committee. We still insist that the player has some contractual obligations with our club. And if he wants to have his status determined he has to take the issue to the player’s status committee after paying the required fee for him to know or cement his wish status (free agent).
“With the copy of this letter we have informed the FAZ and Nkana FC to withdraw the registration of the player until and unless there is a declaration from the Zifa Player’s Status Committee that the player is a free agent or with our club’s consent (i.e the last club he played for).”
Chipunza signed a one-year deal with the Kitwe-based side last week as free agent but his move had been stalled after Chicken Inn stood in the way arguing he was still their player.
Zifa spokesperson Xolisani Gwesela said he will comment after being briefed by the TMS manager.
“I’m not aware of Chipunza’s issue, I’ll have to check with the office. Try me later,” said Gwesela.
On Monday, Chipunza’s manager told our sister paper H-Metro that Chipunza had been cleared and is set to make his debut for the Kitwe-based side after the international break.
“We managed to secure the ITC for Chipunza and he is now cleared to play for his new team as you are aware that he had already signed.
“Of course there were some issues with his former club, but we approached them and what came out was that his contract with them had expired.
All the stakeholders involved cooperated and helped, including the Footballers Union of Zimbabwe.
Chipunza signed a one-year deal with Nkana last week as free agent but his move had been stalled after Chicken Inn stood in the way, arguing that he was still their player.
Chipunza’s contract with the Gamecocks expired at the end of 2020 but since there was no football in Zimbabwe last year, Zifa, said there was room for negotiations for contracts that were due to end last year to overlap into 2021. – @ZililoR
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