Lanjesi, Makupe back at Civo

International defenders John Lanjesi and Pilirani Makupe are reportedly back at Civo United.

Lanjesi and Makupe declared their interest to join Silver Strikers and Mighty Wanderers respectively at the start of the season, but found themselves in a tight spot when the Super League of Malawi (Sulom) said according to the rules, no player can be registered by two teams in a particular window.

Apparently, Big Bullets midfielder Chimango Kayira also found himself in a similar predicament after he resigned and expressed intention to join the Bankers.

Civo general secretary Rashid Ntelera on Sunday confirmed the duo’s return.

“We did not anticipate Sulom’s stand to apply on Makupe because even if he signed the registration form, he did not feature for us.

“However, from what we have gathered from him, it appears Wanderers did not fulfil the terms they agreed with him and that is why he returned and we have accepted him back,” said Ntelera.

“As for Lanjesi, it is a different case because player tapping was involved.

“He has a running contract with us and in normal circumstances we would have expected our friends at Silver to be involved in player tapping instead of following the normal process,” he said.

But Silver chairperson Dr. McDonald Mafuta-Mwale expressed ignorance on the issue yesterday. Instead, he accused Sulom of favouritism.

“We are surprised that the same Sulom is able to allow Wanderers to feature our player, Tony Chitsulo, when we have not received the transfer fee up to now,” said Mafuta-Mwale.

Nomads general secretary David Kanyenda said it was not true that they had failed to fulfil promises they made to Makupe.

“The fact is that we had cash flow problems, but he is still part of our plans. Our understanding is that he went to Lilongwe to bid farewell to his family and he will be coming back,” said Kanyenda.