Malawi’s football star Luka Milanzi has resurfaced to sign a controversial year-long loan deal with Zambia’s Zesco from TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Milanzi’s move has raised fresh eyebrows with FAM Transfer Matching System (TMS) manager Casper Jangale writing Fifa over the loan move.
“Fifa have been on our neck over his whereabouts. I have since written Fifa’s TMS and Compliance Department to notify them that our player has been transferred from Mazembe to Zesco when we have never cleared him,” Jangale said on Sunday.
He also said he raised the transfer irregularity with Milanzi’s agent Andre Mtine, who when contacted by The Nation from Ndola, referred the matter to Mazembe.
A source close to the deal argued that Milanzi, the 2010 TNM Super League Golden Boot Award winner, never played an official Mazembe match as he was with the club’s academy; hence, FAM has no basis for the complaint to Fifa.
Milanzi, who captained the Malawi Under-17 at the 2009 Africa Youth Championship in Algeria and the subsequent World Youth Cup in Nigeria, could not sign a professional contract with Mazembe in 2010 as he claimed to be Under-18.
He has hardly returned home since his switch from Escom United to Mazembe in 2010. His relatives have been on FAM’s neck over his silence in Congo. On Friday, through the club’s website, Zesco general secretary Justin Mumba confirmed Milanzi’s arrival.
“This loan deal is up to the end of the season, the player will stay with us during the entire 2013 season. We are happy with the manner TP Mazembe handled the negotiation to allow the player to move here,” Mumba is quoted as saying.
