Situation tough for me— Babatunde
Gangly forward Babatunde Adepoju says he is in a state of confusion over the current situation whereby Silver Strikers and Be Forward Wanderers are embroiled in a wrangle over his ownership.
He said this in the wake of the Central Bankers’ move to appeal against Football Association of Malawi’s (FAM) ruling that they [Silver] should pay Be Forward Wanderers K8 million transfer fee for his move.
FAM made the ruling last week thereby legitimising Silver as the owners of the lanky Nigerian forward as the order activated the transfer agreement the two Super League sides reached.
Said Adepoju yesterday: “The situation is tough for me because it is like I do not have a team and I am in a state of confusion.
“I am hoping that the appeal will be heard as soon as possible so that I switch my focus to football… Honestly it is not fair on my part.”
Asked which team he would love to play for, Adepoju took a deep breath and said: “I do not want to complicate matters, but what I can tell you is that I signed a contract with Silver and we agreed the terms.”
Meanwhile, FAM licensing and compliance manager Casper Jangale yesterday confirmed receipt of Silver’s appeal.
“We have received their grounds of appeal, but we will monitor the situation over the weekend to see which day would be ideal in case there might be some developments relating to the coronavirus outbreak,” he said.
Silver agreed to sign Adepoju earlier last month, but pulled out from the deal at the eleventh hour when he had already signed a contract and a transfer fee cheque had been issued.
The payment was, however, reversed while Wanderers had already deposited the cheque. It prompted the Nomads to report Silver to FAM demanding K8 million compensation.
For the better part of last season, Adepoju led the chase for the TNM Super League Golden Boot Award, but lost the plot towards the end when he finished third with 15 goals behind eventual winner Khuda Muyaba (Silver) who netted 21 goals while Nyasa Big Bullets’ Hassan Kajoke was the runner-up with 17 goals. He joined the Nomads at the start of last season from Masters Security FC.
