Fifa orders Wazito to pay sacked players over Sh6 million
Wazito forward Augustine Otu celebrates after scoring during their Kenyan Premier League match against Zoo at Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos on March 1, 2020. He was one of the 12 players dropped by Wazito on June 06, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Of the five, only Mansoor Safi was dismissed by the club at the beginning of the year while the rest were victims of the recent massive restructuring in the team.
- Their cases were presented directly to the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber in mid-August and the department has now expedited the matter.
The Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber has ordered Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) side Wazito FC to pay five players it sacked over six million shillings cumulative within 45 days.
Ugandan midfielder Mansoor Safi Agu, DR Congo international Piscas Muhindo, Ghanaian Paul Acquah, Liberian Augustine Otu and Togolese defender Issofou Bourhana, through their lawyer Felix Majani, reported the club to the world football governing body seeking compensation for unfair dismissal.
Of the five, only Mansoor Safi was dismissed by the club at the beginning of the year while the rest were victims of the recent massive restructuring in the team.
Their cases were presented directly to the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber in mid-August and the department has now expedited the matter.
According to letters in our possession, the player status department of the world football governing body has now ordered the club to pay Mansor Safi Agu Sh 1.698 million for breach of contract plus Sh 370,000 outstanding remuneration, Sh 1.04 million to Piscas Muhindo for breach of contract and Sh 200,000 outstanding remuneration, Sh 2.156 million for breach of Paul Acquah's contract plus Sh 150,000 outstanding remuneration, USD 9600 (Approximately 1.04 million) to Issofou Bourhana for breach of contract while Augustine Otu gets USD 7800 (Approximately Sh 848,776) for breach of contract.
Transfer ban
If Wazito fails to pay the monies within 45 days, the club will face a transfer ban over three windows. The ban will only be lifted after the amounts are paid in full.
In a previous interview, Wazito CEO Dennis Gicheru admitted he had received demand letters for compensation from some of the sacked players and their representatives as well communication on the same issue from Fifa. He, however, unapologetically said he was not keen on responding to the demand letters.
The ruling by Fifa could set precedence as far as the speed at which cases regarding the termination of contracts, unfair dismissal of players and the ramifications of the same in the top league in Kenya are concerned.
Earlier this year, the worldwide representative organization of professional footballers, FIFPRO publicly expressed dissatisfaction with how the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) was handling such cases, with a lot of such claims remaining unsettled since 2017.
The Kenya Footballers Welfare Association (Kefwa) has also severally urged FKF to speed up and decide on the cases presented to them by hundreds of Kenyan footballers.
