IT’S TURNING OUT TO BE A ROCKY MARRIAGE AS: ‘BIRDS’ SUSPEND KABIA

MBABANE - Capital City giants Mbabane Swallows have since suspended defensive midfielder Kabia Mohammed for breaching his contract with the Mbabane giants.

The Sierra Leone international player joined the red and white capital giants before the start of the season, from a loan-deal from his parent team Alaska back in his native country. Before joining Swallows, Kabia was playing for Denver Sundowns locally. Swallows General Manager (GM) Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane said it was true that the player was suspended in the club.

Attending

“We served Mohammed with a letter of suspension yesterday (Monday) for not attending to the activities of the club. The player was nowhere to be seen  in our last MTN Premier League game against Nsingizini Hotspurs and doing that has led to him facing the wrath of the club DC. The club goes against such practices because we do things in a professional manner,” he said. The former Denver Sundowns player was suspended after not attending Swallows’ game last Sunday against Nsingizini Hotspurs, where the Mbabane giants won 2-0. He has further been slapped with three charges for misconduct. The GM highlighted that the player’s decision of not going to the match was a serious case which would not be taken lightly by the club.

His agent, Alhassan Kamara, who is based in Sierra Leone, revealed to this publication on Monday afternoon that the player was currently on a season-long loan deal with the Caleb Ngwenya-led side, which was expected to expire at the end of the campaign. He also said that the deal, which was made by both parties, was that a loan fee was to be paid by Swallows for the service of the player. According to Kamara, the local side had not yet paid the money. “The agreement fee was E20 000 and was meant to be paid last year in December.

“The Swallows management have not been responding and even when Mohammed’s club asked him not to play on Sunday, the team did not reach out to resolve the matter,” Kamara said. He said Umkhonto KaShaka breached the contract agreement which they had with Alaska and were at liberty to terminate it. However, the club GM refuted the agent’s claims. “Mbabane Swallows do not at any point not fulfil agreements with players because the team respects every player and the club in this case has a running contract with Mohammed. “First of all, the player was not in the club on loan.

Reports

“The reports by the player’s agent that the player was on loan in the club were not true and the club has the player fully registered as a Mbabane Swallows Football Club player. “Whoever wants to take us to FIFA is free to do that and those who dispute that can go to EFA officers. We don’t have any agreement with any agent but we have an agreement with the player and the contract which he signed in the club, which stipulates clearly that he must do all activities in the club that include, among others, going to play in matches,” Zwane said. ‘Beyond 2000’ also mentioned that they only communicated with the player agent through the phone and that was it. “The documented contracts and everything were done with the player. “We don’t have any agreements with the player agent.

“The agreement and the contract that we did was with the player. “Where does the agent who is misleading the public come in because he was only talking with us through the phone. “Everything else which matters was done with the player and it is there in EFA offices,” he said. Zwane further said the club expected the players to follow what was signed in their contracts. Meanwhile, Kabia when contacted, said he did not want to comment much on the issue because he had Alhassan Kamara, who is based in Sierra Leone as his agent, who handled such matters on his behalf.“I don’t want to comment because I have a representative. I will not be going to any of the team’s matches and training sessions until this is resolved.

Love

“I still love Mbabane Swallows which is the biggest team in the country and I hope the matter is resolved because I still want to play for the club,” he said. The workaholic midfielder further said it was true that the club had suspended him with immediate effect and refused to comment further on why he decided to snub the game. The player has been having a good campaign with Swallows. After joining Umkhonto KaShaka, he was immediately called up by his country to represent them in the 2022/23 TotalEnergies Under-23 qualifier, where his stellar performance for the Under-23s got him a call-up to the senior team. Meanwhile, in a related incident; cancelling the contract of Zimbabwean international Cabby Kamhapa in 2018/2019 season came back to haunt Swallows in April last year.

Salary

The former CAPS United defender took the ‘Beautiful Birds’ to the Federation of International  Football Association (FIFA) over owed salary for two months amounting to E13 000. FIFA ruled in the player’s favour.In a letter copied to Swallows, the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the world football governing body informed both parties of the final and binding decision on all parties to the Status and Transfer of Players. “The respondent, Mbabane Swallows, shall pay the Claimant, Cabby Kamhapa, E13 000 as outstanding remuneration. Payment (including any applicable interest) shall be made within 45 days as from the notification of this confirmation letter,” reads part of the letter.

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