Bullets players get their signing-on fees

Nyasa Big Bullets FC yesterday paid their players outstanding signing-on fees amounting to K42 million.

The club’s interim general secretary (GS) Kelvin Moyo and captain Chiukepo Msowoya confirmed the development in separate interviews yesterday.

“As per agreement, the sponsors Nyasa manufacturing Company [NMC] have released the K42 million loan and it has been duly paid to the players.

“It means all the signing-on fee dues have now been cleared and we are grateful to our sponsors,” said Moyo.

He said they are hoping that the development will motivate the players to give out something extra.

On his part, Msowoya said: “On behalf of the players, I would like to thank the sponsors as well as the executive committee for their efforts to ensure that we are paid our dues. The ball is now in our court to perform on the pitch.”

NMC managing director Konrad Buckle and the club chairperson Noel Lipipa told a news conference a fortnight ago that the loan would be paid over a four-year period.

Said Buckle: “This money is not a donation, it is a loan that will attract interest.”

Lipipa said the K42 million would be deducted from the K500 million five-year sponsorship deal.

“We were spending beyond our means by offering players exorbitant signing-on fees and salaries that we could not sustain,” he said.