BB chair clears Gaba mist

Big Bullets chairperson Malinda Chinyama has cleared misrepresentations elsewhere of the Gabadinho Mhango transfer by disclosing that the top brass acted in the player’s interest as he had asked to be released amid his slump in form coupled with negative publicity following his poor Junior Certificate of Education (JC) examinations results.

Chinyama was yesterday justifying the move to terminate the player’s contract which led to Bullets pocketing K3 million [about R75 000] from the deal.

“One thing that has not been reported is that Gabadinho came to me and asked to be released because he could not handle the pressure following his form slump.

“He said the situation had become so hostile that he just wanted to start a new lease of life elsewhere. At that point, he suggested that he should be allowed to join Silver Strikers who were after his services.

“Then another opportunity was when he went back to South Africa and while he was there, the hot issue here was about his failing the exams,” explained Chinyama.

He said it was at that point that they decided to terminate his contract because Bloemfontein Celtic were not prepared to take a gamble on a player they hardly knew.

“Of course, Celtic said while they were impressed with his performance during trials, they were not keen to spend a penny on a player they hardly knew and that is why Prosport asked us to consider terminating his contract and it was them [Prosport] who offered us K3 million (US$8 108) pending further negotiations,” said Chinyama.

He added: “We even made an effort to send them articles through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prove that the player was a gem. It is not like something sinister occurred.”

However, seasoned players agent Ben Chiwaya said Bullets would have avoided all that controversy had they been straightforward.

“All this is coming because Bullets top brass kept information under wraps. The other thing is that even if the player was desperate to quit, Bullets could have handled the issue better to make sure they benefited from the deal,” said Chiwaya.

The latest revelation comes in the wake of calls by some of the club’s Lilongwe-based executive committee members, led by vice-chairperson Austin Kasito for the top brass to step down and pave the way for investigations into Gaba’s deal.

Chinyama yesterday said he believes those are just Kasito’s views because he is reliably informed that some key members of the club’s Lilongwe-based executive members did not attend the meeting and are not party to the call for the top brass to resign.