African Stars, Namibia’s premiership champions, have appealed to FIFA to lift their transfer ban after settling a debt owed to Ghanaian striker Peter Ernest Adiwo, according to club chairman Salomo Hei.
The club was recently prohibited from signing new players domestically and internationally due to their failure to fulfill their financial obligations to their former player.
Stars were initially ordered to pay Adiwo N$ 180,000 after he filed a complaint with FIFA alleging unfair dismissal.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee determined that Stars had violated their agreement with the Ghanaian and ruled that their failure to compensate him within the designated period resulted in the transfer ban.
Hei told Desert Radio this week that Adiwo had received the funds owed to him.
“In the meantime, what transpired is that the player continued and approached Fifa while he received the money. We did not receive the audience, as the merit of the matter was given to Fifa,” Hei said.
Hei further said the initial communication from Fifa was done via an email address normally not used by the club, which caused the delay in handling the matter.
“We are dealing with the matter this week so that things get back to normal and have the ban lifted, upon us honoring the obligation set by Fifa,” Hei said.
He added that the current situation is a concern for the team’s management but they intend on resolving the matter with the hope of signing new players in the upcoming transfer window.
“We had a player that had a short-term working contract. We even wanted to renew the papers of this player. His papers were then not renewed for different reasons, one being that he is an international player,” Hei said of how the club found itself in hot water.
“His work permit being turned down is not only a Namibian phenomenon but a practice all over the world.”
The club’s figurehead wants to address the issue promptly, enabling them to focus on preparations for the upcoming season. To facilitate this, Stars has secured a pre-season engagement in Botswana, involving a series of preparatory matches.
The figurehead emphasized the need for a robust pre-season drive to ensure the team is adequately prepared for another Confederation of African Football Champions League campaign.
