Rashid Shedu furious at Gor Mahia

Courtesy of allafrica.com

Relegated Bandari FC are up in arms against Kenya Premier League side Gor Mahia, whom they accuse of signing their goalkeeper Ivo Mapunda without their consent.

Coach Rishad Shedu yesterday threatened to take legal action against Gor Mahia, saying the player is on a two-year contract with the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) sponsored team. “This move is unacceptable as there is no way a team can negotiate a deal and sign in a player without seeking the consent of his club. This is wrong,” said Shedu. He revealed that the club had only released their other goalkeeper, Wycliffe Kasaya but not Mapunda, whom he insists is still wanted at the club.

The blow comes at the end of a seven-day ultimatum, where players wishing to leave the club were required to notify the management of their intentions, failure to which they will be denied release letters. Shedu said so far only defender Anthony Murunga and Kasaya had notified him of their intentions to join newly-crowned Tusker FC. He added that any other information linking the club’s payers to any departure should be treated as just rumours. “We have heard from unconfirmed sources that Shaban Kenga, Mapunda and Mohammed Sheriff are set to leave Bandari but they have not come to us to confirm the story doing rounds,” he said.

The former KPL side, according to Shedu is also keen to reclaim their position in the top flight league and are therefore willing to release as few players as possible from their current fold to enable them fight their way up. He, however, added that the club is not going to block any player from joining any of the top clubs since it is every coach’s dream to see their players join moneyed clubs that will be able to take care of their welfare.

A mass exodus is expected at the Mombasa-side with a number of players rumoured to be warming towards KPL sides. Bandari were relegated alongside fellow coast side Congo United after managing only 31 and 20 points respectively from 30 matches. The two coastal sides were controversially promoted last year with Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), who had engaged the two in the promotion battle, accusing the authorities of favouritism after they (KRA) finished level on points with Bandari in the Nationwide League. Bandari and Congo will in the next season play in the Nationwide League after their positions were taken up by Oserian and Muhoroni Youth.