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Sofapaka striker John Avire’s dream of officially joining recently-promoted Egyptian top-tier side Tanta Sports Club may have hit a snag as the club continues to play hard ball in negotiations.
The drama surrounding his potential move to Egypt led to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Muthomi stepping down to pave way for investigations after he wrote a letter to aid Avire and his agent to fast track visa processing in order to complete the deal in good time.
In the letter to the Egyptian embassy, Avire - who was in Egypt before for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with Harambee Stars - is listed alongside his representative as fans who wished to travel to Egypt to watch the final matches of the tournament while in reality they were going to negotiate with Tanta.
Avire has a running contract with Sofapaka that expires in December 2020 but had allegedly not been paid for over three months.
According to Fifa rules, a player is free to move to any other club if the current club has not paid him for two months provided the player provides sufficient notice.
This is what Avire was banking on to move to Tanta in Egypt. However, he terminated his contract without notice and Sofapaka now insists they have fulfilled their contractual obligations with the player and therefore he cannot move until the club negotiates with them directly and meets their demands.
The 22-year-old forward has reportedly signed a three-year deal with the club but Batoto Ba Mungu president Elly Kalekwa has now warned him and the club, Tanta, to follow due process and have the best interests of the player at heart.
He, however, insists he has better offers for the player from other clubs and he therefore can only let him go if the club gets a “good” offer.
“One agent from the club called Ali approached me offering Sh1 million ($10,000) or Sh2 million ($20,000) as transfer fees but that’s unacceptable. There is another club from Egypt offering Sh15 million and also a South African club willing to give a similar amount for the player. As a club all we want is to earn what we deserve from this transfer,” Kalekwa says,
Reports indicate that Tanta is contemplating taking the matter to the Fifa Disputes Resolution Centre but Sofapaka remains unshaken with Kalekwa saying they are ready.
“Avire has been calling us from Egypt trying to persuade us to allow him move to this club but when you want someone’s daughter you can’t dictate the amount. You have to negotiate and reach an agreement. As far as we are concerned the deal will not go through if Avire continues forcing his way out,” he said.
“We are not going to give a release letter and the federation will also not issue his International Transfer Certificate (ITC). The good thing about football is that there are rules and they have to be followed. Our lawyers in Switzerland are ready if they want us to go that route.”
Tanta, founded in 1926, is one of the oldest football clubs in Africa. They were recently promoted to the top-tier and are strengthening their squad ahead of the league kick off in early October.
Former captain of Ugandan club Vipers SC Taddeo Lwanga is among the fresh faces the team is banking on as they embark on the new journey in the Egyptian Premier League.
