Chipuwa sneaks to Mozambique, angers Wanderers

Be Forward Wanderers has threatened to block goalkeeper Richard Chipuwa’s potential move to Mozambican club Chingale FC after leaving for trials without seeking clearance.

Chipuwa confirmed through MIJ Radio that he arrived in the neighbouring country over the weekend ahead of trials scheduled for this week.

But in an interview with The Nation, Wanderers general secretary Mike Butao said they did not receive any trial request for Chipuwa who, he claimed, is contracted to the Nomads until 2018.

“I hope that all our players are mature enough to know that they cannot attend trials without the blessings of the parent club,” he said.

Meanwhile, Butao has said that if Chipuwa passes the trials, Wanderers will not sell him because the Mozambican club has acted disrespectfully.

“There is also no way we can sell our player to any club that directly contacts and invites our player for trials without going through us,” he said.

Butao has unveiled plans to report Chingale FC to Federation of International Football Association (Fifa).

“We will ask Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to file a player tapping complaint to Fifa. Foreign clubs and agents should not think that Malawian clubs are dumb,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chipuwa’s agent Kenie Giggs did not respond to our e-mailed questionnaire as we went to press yesterday.

But FAM’s transfer system manager Casper Jangale said Chipuwa met him to seek advice on the right procedures to follow before leaving for the trials.

“I advised him to seek a clearance letter from Wanderers general secretary (Butao) because he is still contracted to them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jangale said if Chipuwa is successful during his trials, FAM will not issue International Transfer Clearance without Wanderers’ consent.

“Wanderers should not lose sleep because the player will still need the club when it comes to clearance,” he said.

Chipuwa has been a key player for the Nomads in the past four seasons and last year he helped them to the Carlsberg Cup glory and Standard Bank runners-up finish.