Kaonga rubbishes bribery claims
Silver Strikers ace striker Chawanangwa Kaonga has described as untrue allegations that he was offered K300 000 (about $600) by Big Bullets to entice him to join the club.
Breaking the ice on the sticky issue which has brought about friction between the two clubs, Kaonga confided inWeekend Nation on Thursday that the allegation are untrue.
“To say the truth, it is not true. I was never offered money by Big Bullets. I was surprised to read that in the papers,” said Kaonga.
Silver general secretary Mike Tembo had written Fote on Tuesday advising him to stop approaching Chawanangwa Kaonga.
“As of late, he has advised me that you were offering him K300 000 which is not allowed and unprocedural. If the player takes that money you will not be able to recover that money as our stand remains as communicated in my attached letter,” Tembo wrote Fote in an e-mail copied to, among others, Silver club chairperson McDonald Mafuta-Mwale and FAM general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda.
“I do not know where the GS (Tembo) got that from, but, honestly I have never been offered money and I am not happy that my name is being linked to this,” said Kaonga.
Fote has since warned Silver against damaging his reputation.
“The closest I have come to Chawanangwa was when Silver faced Bullets in a match. We shook hands when I was greeting the players. It is unfortunate that Mr. Tembo is mentioning my name in relation to bribe. This is character assassination but I will not take the issue further as it is a football matter. I am just warning Silver not to tarnish my image,” Fote explained in a telephone interview from Blantyre.
“I am glad that finally the player himself (Kaonga) has cleared my name,” said Fote.
Tembo, however, insisted that it is true that Bullets approached Kaonga with money amounting to K300 000.
Fote said they have now engaged Kaonga’s parents in the transfer wrangle.
“The player we are talking about is a minor, as such his parents now have the last say on the issue. Kaonga is 19 and has shown interest to join the team, but it is Silver who are standing in our way. What we have done now is to engage his parents. We are serious about Chawanangwa,” said Fote.
Meanwhile, Kaonga has said he is still consulting on whether to stay at Silver or move to Bullets.
“I have not yet made up my mind. I am talking to people. Now that the issue has come public, it is discomforting, but I will take a position soon. My options are open,” said Kaonga.
Bullets are reported to have already registered Kaonga for the CAF competition in a bid to beat a December 30 2014 deadline.
