Polokwane City set to face Fifa DC – report
Polokwane City could find themselves in hot water with Fifa for allegedly failing to compensate Senegalese striker Faye Baptiste.
Faye Baptiste
According to The Sowetan, City were ordered to pay Bollo close to R1 million by Fifa after terminating the player’s contract that still had one year running.
Baptiste signed a two-year deal with City in 2015 but his contract was terminated the following year, but allegedly failed to pay him the outstanding monies owed to him.
The matter was taken to Fifa’s players’ status committee by the SA Football Players’ Union (Safpu) and it was ruled in July 2017 that City must compensate him.
City are said to not have adhered to the Fifa ruling and the matter is now headed to Fifa’s disciplinary committee.
Safpu secretary-general Nhlanhla Shabalala confirmed to The Sowetan that City could be docked points.
“Polokwane City terminated his contract on the basis that he does not fit in their plans. Clubs have the right to recruit who they want given how they play and all the dynamics, but in the process that you want to end the relations with the players – the players are not animals; they are not monkeys or dogs, but human beings. So just as much as you sat down, negotiated and concluded a deal, the same applies when you want to end things,” Shabalala was quoted as saying.
“Now we’ve got an award and Polokwane City must pay the money, which is in the region of R1 million.”
In a similar case, AmaZulu were recently docked six points for failing to pay Namibian player Phineas Nambandi after terminating his contract in 2014.
Usuthu have relented, and paid R1.5 million earlier this week to avoid being relegated.
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