- GU were not replied by FIFA after pleading for an extension – source
- GU thought they had set the case aside
- Club assumed that they had been given more time
BONGANI MALUNGA
Information reaching Gazette Sport suggests that a communication glitch may have led to the latest FIFA order in which the club has been ordered to pay their former player Bismarck Appiah up to $39 500 (approximately P404 100). They have also been charged a penalty of 5000 Swiss Francs (approx. P51 750) plus five percent interest of the original $39 500 settlement fee.
The first FIFA order of this year was made in March as the Gaborone outfit was instructed to pay Appiah for terminating his contract while it still had another year to run. They were given until April 9 to have paid the full amount. The settlement order came as a default judgement after GU had failed or ignored to respond to the player’s demand.
GU then reportedly wrote a plea to FIFA to extend the deadline, they provided eight reasons why they should be given more time to solve the issue. Among the eight points listed was the club’s financial situation and the fact that they changed management since the incident occurred.
A source within the GU camp has informed this publication that the club was made to believe that their plea to be given more time to settle the payment because FIFA did not respond to GU’s plea. The club then assumed that FIFA’s silence after the plea meant that they had succeeded in setting the case aside while getting their house in order.
“We gave them eight reasons why they should give us more time, we also proposed a payment plan because of our situation This is a case from 2016, this was surely under previous management and we highlighted that as well but that does not mean that we didn’t accept the judgement. Appiah is based in Serbia, it is difficult to reach him, we wanted to propose a payment plan. There was a major communication glitch along the way, we assumed that we were afforded another opportunity to resolve this matter, it is unfortunate,” claimed the source.