Masters, Civo tussle over former Karonga Utd star

Civo United and Masters Security FC are embroiled in a wrangle over the ownership of former Karonga United star Raphael Phiri.

Both sides claim they own  the player and they separately presented Phiri’s name to Football Association of Malawi (FAM) for the processing of his transfer from Karonga United ahead of the 2017 TNM Super League kickoff on May 6.

The player is currently training with Civo, but Masters coach  Benjamin Kumwenda claimed they paid K1 million of his K1.6 million signing on fee on March 30.

On the other hand, Civo general secretary Thomas Makiwa said Phiri signed a pre-contract.

Masters general secretary Zacharia Nyirenda could not be reached yesterday, but Kumwenda blamed the player for the mess, saying he told them that he was a free agent and pocketed part of his signing on fee.

“All along, Phiri has been in our camp. He signed a two-year contract with us before the transfer window closed on March 31 and he got part of his signing on fee. However, he has been absconding training for the past two weeks and we learned he is training with Civo,” said Kumwenda.

“If he is going to remain at Civo, we demand that he buys out his contract and give us back the K1 million signing on fee. The total sum he has to pay us is K3.4 million.”

But Makiwa said he could not comment on the issue until all stakeholders meet this weekend to sort out the matter.

“We have agreed to meet and discuss the matter amicably. It is better to first sort out the matter through contact and dialogue,” he said.

FAM transfer manager Casper Jangale said they will meet the two parties. n