Linje denies tricking Civo

Mighty Be Forward Wanderers talisman Jabulani Linje has dismissed Civo United’s claims that he tricked them by collecting K850 000 (US$1 889) signing-on fee as a commitment that he would remain at the club this season.

Civo general secretary Rashid Ntelera said yesterday they gave the sum to the player as part payment of his signing-on fee at the beginning of this season, but they were surprised to learn a few days later that he had signed a pre-contract with the Nomads.

“The contract was ready for his signature, but he [Linje] said he would sign the contract after getting that part payment. [However], as soon as we paid him, he abandoned us and joined Wanderers,” said Ntelera.

The Civo GS said they reported the matter to Super League of Malawi (Sulom) to help them recover the money, but “surprisingly, despite several reminders, they have done nothing about it.”

However, Ntelera admitted that apart from a bank deposit slip, there is no other proof that the player received the money.

“He didn’t sign anywhere as proof that he got the money because we deposited it into his account. What we did was to open accounts for all our players to ensure order, so every payment is done through the account and the proof we have is actually the deposit slip,” he said.

Asked on the way forward, Ntelera said: “We hope Sulom will help us recover the money, otherwise we will take it that bit was theft by tricks and we wouldn’t want to take that route. We want to resolve this issue amicably.”

However, speaking in an interview with The Nation yesterday, Linje dismissed Civo’s claims.

“I have heard about that issue, but I do not know its origins because Civo never paid me such an amount as part of my signing-on fees.

“Surprisingly, no one from Civo, including bwana Ntelera has raised that issue with me, a thing I find to be very strange,” said Linje.

But Ntelera said they thought the best way to handle the issue was to take it up with Sulom.

However, Sulom treasurer Tiya Somba-Banda said they can only act on the matter upon submission of documentation to prove that Linje indeed got the money.

“In absence of concrete proof, it is difficult to pursue the matter. Nevertheless, we feel this is an issue that the two parties can resolve amicably,” said Somba-Banda.