Nomads hitman risks ban

Mozambican club Associacao Desportiva De Vilankulo have threatened to lodge a complaint with Fifa after striker Vincent Nyangulu extended his contract with Mighty Wanderers despite signing a pre-contract with the former.

The Mozambican side’s general secretary Sergio Araujo said in an interview that Nyangulu signed a pre-contract with them in February and was expected to join them at the expiry of his contract with Wanderers.

He said: “He is our player; this is what we know. We have [a] contract with [him]. He came to Mozambique to sign pre-contract with our club, he told us that he will be [a] free agent after March 31.”  

On February 16, Nyangulu left the country for Mozambique where he negotiated a deal with Vilankulo and signed a one-year pre-contract.

He was supposed to join Vilankulo yesterday.

However, the player has changed his mind and  extended his contract with Wanderers on Wednesday.

The Nomads board secretary Humphrey Mvula confirmed that Nyangulu extended his stay at the club.

“We have been talking to the player for the past six months, so finally he has agreed to stay at the club,” he said. 

Nyangulu’s manager Moses Chavula, a former Wanderers left-back, confirmed that the player signed a pre-contract with Vilankulo, but he was surprised to see the striker signing for Wanderers.

He said: “I made it clear to him that he was not supposed to sign for any club since he had already committed to the Mozambican club.

“Surprisingly, on Wednesday I saw photos circulating on social media of him signing a contract extension with Wanderers.”

Chavula said Nyangulu could not explain properly on why he decided to extend his contract with Wanderers.

“In fact, we were supposed to leave the country today [yesterday] for Mozambique. I don’t know what will happen now,” he said.

Chavula said the player did not receive an offer from any local team when he was leaving for Mozambique.

He said: “So we went ahead to negotiate a deal with Desportiva De Vilankulo so that he can join them upon the expiry of his contract on March 31 with Wanderers.

“The trip was successful because we signed a deal. At that time, he was eligible to sign a pre-contract with any team because his contract was remaining with just a month.”

Chavula said the player returned to Malawi to see out the reminder of his contract with Wanderers.

“I told Wanderers officials that the player had signed a pre-contract with a Mozambican club,” he added.

Asked if the player could be at risk, Football Association of Malawi licensing and compliance manager Casper Jangale said it depends on the conditions in the pre-contract.

He said: “It all depends on what is in the pre-contract because the Mozambican team can punish him based on some of the clauses agreed. It is unfortunate that the player first committed himself to a Mozambique club before extending his stay at his parent club.”