Pius Wangi and Ashraf Mandela have been cleared by the Fufa Player status committee to play for a club of their choice.
This follows a dispute between the duo and now their former club Vipers over the two parties’ failure to agree loan deals.
According to the CEO of the Football Players Association, Paul Mukatabala, the two players filed a complaint after Vipers forced them to join clubs that were not either’s choice.
Vipers had offered Wangi to Nyamityobora while Mandela had been told to join URA on loan deals.
However, the duo instead opted for a move to Villa Park which rubbed their parent club the wrong way.
The players were set free basing on Art Article 20.4 of the FUFA constitution regarding player contracts and loaning states that;
“A contracted player will only be loaned upon his consent” and also article 20.5 that says “Where a club forces a player to look for a new club to be released on loan, the contract with former club shall be rendered null and void. FUFA shall register the player as free agent”.
Article 20.6 of the same also says that in case of failure to consent with a club forcing the player to a club, the loan move will be null and void.
Vipers, in their defence attached letters of both URA and Nyamityobora requesting for the players but didn’t produce consent forms according to Mukatabala who also revealed the club has already received the ruling.
It remains to be seen whether Vipers will appeal the decision and also if the two players will opt for a move to SC Villa or elsewhere.
