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| Sports |
| MDC take Bakili Bullets to court |
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by
Oris Chimenya and Garry Chirwa, 25 May 2004
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16:51:19
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Bakili Bullets, an outfit that delights in the luxury of having the best sponsorship in the land, was on Tuesday thrown into turmoil following MDC United’s threat that they will take them to court today for their failure to pay transfer fee balance amounting to over K1 million ($9,346) for three players.
MDC’s plain spoken manager Simon Mkandawire said their lawyers will be applying for an injunction from the High Court on Wednesday restraining the Bullets from using defender Maupo Msowoya, striker Mapopa Musukwa and goalkeeper Kachibowo Malunga until the balance is settled.
The upshot is likely to give the Bullets a big fright in the countdown to their weekend Caf Champions League second round, second leg showdown against South Africa’s glamour boys, Orlando Pirates scheduled for this Saturday.
“I think we have been patient for long enough and we can no longer dance to Bullets’ tunes. Every time we approach them, they keep on changing their statements.
“For the cause of the nation, we allowed them to use these three players in the Champions League tournament even when they had a huge unsettled balance and its high time they paid us the balance. We have tried every possible way including meeting some of their trustees but to no avail,” said Mkandawire.
The vocal MDC official also said the Soccer Saints are currently in red and are counting on the same money to pay their players’ outstanding dues.
“Financially, we are cleaned out and we are failing to pay out players. Surprisingly the Bullets have all the money to sponsor their fans’ foreign trips when they cannot pay us K1 million,” he said.
But Bullets general secretary Ophman Kondowe received the news with great shock saying Bullets executive had communicated to the Soccer Saints that they would get their money soon.
“I am very surprised that they have chosen to go court. We know that financially, they are struggling but the question of going to the court for this issue is not healthy for football in the country.
“Their GS [Gregory Mhango] phoned me and I told him that they should wait since we were expecting to raise something from the Caf game, but maybe there is a hidden agenda,” he said.
Kondowe said when the two teams were transacting the sale of the players, there was no indication of time limits or deadlines drawn for the Bullets.
“We told them that we would pay them whenever we have resources and we have delayed because of the Caf games that are milking us a lot. Just imagine, every two weeks, we have to play a game,” he said.
Kondowe also pleaded that MDC should bear with them because apart from starting paying for the three players in question, Bullets gave them Navigator Dzinkambani for free.
Bullets vice treasurer Kondi Msungama echoed Kondowe’s sentiments confessing that the club owes MDC over K1 million and that it can be described as a bad debt.
“We know that we owe them money and this can be described as a bad debt. But MDC should understand us because yesterday (Monday) I went to their treasurer’s office to brief them that we will pay them after this weekend’s Caf game, but they have chosen to go to court,” said Msungama.
According to the Bullets treasurer, the last instalment that Bullets paid is K500,000 which was paid last month.
In a related development there is a twist to the saga of Emmanuel Chipatala who Bullets also bought from Super Escom.
While Escom say they are still owned transfer fee balance of K220,000 for the player, the former president’s team says there is no balance.
Escom’s general secretary Aubrey Mabvuka said in an interview on Monday that the team’s executive decided that the “balance” should not be paid in instalments.
“There is a balance of K220,000 which Bullets are yet to pay for the player who they have been using since last year,” said Mabvuka.
But Msungama brushed off the claims.
“Mr. Mabvuka has a big, big problem. He does not contact his colleagues in the committee when doing things. He is the one who wrote Caf to withdraw the services of Chipatala when we were playing against SC Villa [from Uganda].
“As far as I am concerned, we have no balance at all,” said Msungama.
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