Vasco Da Gama’s off-season recruit, Omaatla Kebatho, is facing a frustrating spell on the sidelines due to the delay of the release of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) from his former club Sankoyo Bush Bucks. Reports reaching Gazette Sport suggest that the player is being sabotaged by some members of his previous club.
An insider from within the club claims that a few officials who were reluctant to see the player leave on a free transfer have delayed the release of his ITC.
The insider also revealed that Kebatho had no official contract with Sankoyo, he was signed on an amateur player deal. Payment issues were a constant problem for the player and that prompted him to leave when he was notified of interest from Vasco Da Gama, according to the source. Sankoyo’s financial problems were well documented last season as the team sought main if not additional sponsors.
He also suggested that the officials wanted to benefit from the deal by saying, “Omaatla never had an official contract with Sankoyo. Vasco Da Gama made a request to negotiate a deal with him, they were surprised to find out that he had no contract. That made it easier for them to sign him swiftly, the player was keen to move given the financial problems he faced. Some Sankoyo officials felt them move was done without ironing out some details with them. Sankoyo preferred to sell him to a local club, they had agreed a fee in the region of P100 000 with a home based side.”
The source claimed that Sankoyo could have benefited more if they had done transfer business with a local side, they could have received add ons generated from the number of goals he would have scored. Plus, they could have also received 25 percent of his sell on fee if he had moved abroad after joining Sankoyo’s beMobile Premier League rival during the off season transfer window.
Reached for comment, a member of Sankoyo’s management denied the aforementioned reports but declined to comment further as he stated that the matter had been forwarded to the Botswana Football Association and the Botswana Premier League for further investigations and arbitration.