ENGLISH Premiership top side, Tottenham Hotspur have asked KCM-FAZ Division One North, Mining Rangers to sort out defender Emmanuel Mbola’s professional contractual mess with Armenian club, Yereven Pyunik before they can continue assessing the Zambian teenager.
Hotspur, who invited Mbola for a week-long soccer trials, wrote to Mining Rangers demanding that they clear the player with Pyunik before the 16-year-old could go back to White Hart Lane in London to continue with trials.
Mbola said on arrival from London yesterday that Hotspurs advised him to have his problem sorted out first before heading back to England to wind up his programme.
He said Hotspurs showed a lot of interest in him after he trained with the main team for a day and he was optimistic of impressing manager Harry Rednapp.
“Hotspurs like me a lot but it is just because of the contract confusion with Pyunik and my agent,” he said.
Mbola said he was hopeful everything would be dealt with soon to enable him get back to London by next week.
He said he enjoyed his brief stay in London describing it as good and fantastic.
On reports that Redknapp indicated that he did not train with the first team and that he did not know him, Mbola insisted that he trained with the main team under the Spurs manager alongside a Nigerian player.
Mining Rangers director Elijah Chileshe, who welcomed Mbola at Lusaka International Airport yesterday, confirmed receiving a letter from Hotspur where the English club demanded that they should clear the Pyunik issue.
Chileshe said his team would await a response from world soccer governing body, FIFA through FAZ after making a formal complaint to the association.
He said it was regrettable that Pyunik forced Mbola to sign a contract as an under-16 teenager contrary to FIFA statutes.
Chileshe said Pyunik were not sincere in their dealings as they neither consulted Mining Rangers on the contract nor got parental consent from Mbola’s father.
Article 19 (1) of the FIFA constitution states that international transfers of players are only permitted if the player is over the age of 18.
Part of Article 19 says there are three exceptions where the rule applies; that (a) the player’s parents move to the country in which the club is located for reasons not related to football; (b) the transfer takes place within the territory of the European Union or European Economic Area and the player is aged between 16 and 18.
And (c) that the player lives no further than 50 km from a national border and the club with which the player wishes to be registered in the neighbouring association is also within 50 km of that border.
FAZ has since reported the matter to FIFA for action.
Chileshe was optimistic that the Mbola issue would be resolved as quickly as possible to enable him continue with his try-outs at Hotspur.
He said Hotspur had shown interest in him and he was sure Mbola would pass the trials.
“Knowing Mbola, he can’t fail the trials. I wish him luck so that he passes. It will be good for his career if he passes the trials,” Chileshe said.
To ensure that Mbola remained in shape, Chileshe took the exciting defender to the Zambia Under-17 squad which is currently training at Independence Stadium.
“I’ve just handed him (Mbola) to the Under-17 manager Daniel Jere so that he loosens up and trains with the team. I’ve to keep an eye on him until all is well,” Chileshe said.
Earlier in the week, media reports from England stated that Hotspur had clinched Mbola on a one million pound deal after fending off competition from West Ham United but Chileshe denied the story.
Despite being a debutante at the African Cup finals in Angola this year, Mbola was one of the most outstanding performers for Zambia and was named as a substitute in Africa’s finest players’ team.
[Times of Zambia]
Good Morning
FAZ please sort out the mess and clear the way for the boy to move on and progress in his career. No stumbling blocks please.[-x
Mbola,Mayuka The Saga continues at FAZ House!
Who let the boy sign the contract?The Armenian Club would not have signed him on without the consent of the FAZ.
Would we have known about the irregularity in his Contract if Tot Hot had not expressed interest in him?
For now,Mining Rangers and FAZ should reverse the mess made and offer the boy a lifeline in his Football career.
All the best and Job well done at the AFCON Angola.
Nigerians and the world now respect us more on the pitch.
#2 ,I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.I SMELL SOME GREASY FINGERS HERE.
I HOPE WHEN THIS IS SORTED IT COULD PAVE THE WAY FOR MORE OF OUR BOYS AND GIRLS IN ZED TO BE ABLE TO PLY THEIR SOCCER TRADE IN THE UK.
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE REVELATIONS.
I JUST CHECKED THE FIFA WEBSITE AND ZAMBIA HAS NO REGISTERED SOCCER AGENT.
PEOPLE LIKE SIMATAA SIMATAA SHOULD TAKE UP SUCH BUSINESS SO OUR LADS AND LASSESS CAN HAVE DIGNIFIED EXPOSURE AND REPRESENTATION.
Ok so # 1 and 2 u have the same pictures ? I guess one took his shoot kuma 05 and the other kuma 18.Ok about Mbola i just hope this contract thing is will be sorted out soon coz we want to see the young man playing in the English main league soon.:)>-
Corruption concerns you!
The whole situation is a fiasco. Mr Chileshe at Mining Rangers, didn’t you recieve a transfer fee from Pyunik? Why has it taken nearly 12 months for you to start crying that the contract was forced on the boy, if it was, why did you consent to it? FAZ, did you now issue an International Transfer Certificate (reciept) to Pyunik, thereby rubberstamping the deal?
Now there is £1million on the table people’s eyes have grown big and their hands sweaty. Let this be a lesson to you, next time perhaps you should talk about ‘sell on clauses’!
Where are the bloggers who were too quick to accuse Harry Redknapp and the English premiership of racism? Now you know where the mess is and it does not surprise anyone, FAZ and its current leadership are a total disgrace. You are better advised to sort out tribalism in Zambia particularly in the top MMD leadership and leave Redknapp alone.
According to the 3 exceptions in the Fifa regulations under which a below 18 year old player can move to play in the EU it seems as if Mbola is not eligible at all. Or are his parents moving to UK for non-soccer related reason?
It seems Zambian sports administrators dont learn from their mistakes or indeed from mistakes of past administrators. The recent transfer saga is still fresh in our minds concerning Emmanuel Mayuka. It is unbelievable if Mining Rangers would still insist they know nothing about “the contract”. How could they release him without agreeing on some transfer fees? Was he on a loan….Uuhgrrr!!
Anyway, sort out the mess. FAZ wake up, you are too sleepy. Please provide leadership and direction to ZAMfootball.
Why does everything pa ZED have to be so complicated? I can just see the vultures lining up to each get a piece of the action. This will not get sorted out unless a sincere senior member of the government gets involved. Then again, is there such a person in the MMD administration?
FAZ must expediate this deal.If Mbola breaks into the EPL,opportunities for other Zambians could open.This could be a turning point in Zambia`s soccer fortunes.Qualification to the World Cup could even be realistic.We need Zambians to be competing at the highest level in club competition.
Pyunik saw gold when they first saw Mbola, aparently the hunger for money by both players and their so called agents materialised into an hurried arrangement. Its Pyunik who have an upper hand in this matter. The agent must put some sense into Pyunik to accept the offer from White hart so that they can use the money to buy 3 or more players. Mbola who was a good investment for them.
pliz don’t delay the young man..sort out his team issues and let him go back to London…!
i think this boy is making mistake by signing for spurs,,he will just rot in reserve,,he wont be able to get int he first team at all,,their much better and established players in front of him,,,his best bet of furthering his career would be to go to holland where they give allthe chance to youth..
Pliz twapapata let the boy go to England what is faz doing how did he even sign the contract.lets have some kind of order”””
Ba FAZ and ba Mining Rangers should sort out this silly mess, how can a simple issue like this became so complicated, do your jobs abena Kalusha not just jetting in and out of SA for chills.