Leemisa Thuseho
LIKHOPO midfielder Morena Mohlominyane is likely to spend the entire first round of the 2020/21 premier league season on the sidelines after the side omitted him from its list of registrations.
The player has told the club of his intention to leave for Lijabatho and Likhopo has demanded M40 000 for his services. However, Lijabatho said it was only prepared to pay M10 000.
Player registrations were meant to have been finalised on Monday but the deadline was extended to Friday. By end of day Friday, the player was yet to be registered.
Although Mohlominyane still has a running contract with Likhopo until next May, the club says it is ready to let him go but only for the right money. Nevertheless, Lijabatho is also hamstrung and cannot register him until it pays the M20 000 asking price or at least negotiate another deal with Likhopo.
While the two parties are still negotiating, the player is said to be absenting himself from Likhopo’s pre-season preparations.
Likhopo communication and marketing manager Mpo Ramokotjo confirmed to the Lesotho Times that they omitted registering Mohlominyane.
“We might still have a running contract but we decided not to register him after he failed to report for pre-season preparations,” Ramokotjo said.
“Lijabtho approached us and we told that we want M40 000 to release the player but they negotiated for M25 000 and we agreed. Later on, they told us that they could only afford M10 000. We refused but told them we could take M20 000. Since then they never come back and we are still waiting for them.”
On his part, Lijabatho communication and marketing manager Tšepiso Thoso said they were still working on the matter.
“I cannot comment about the player now because we must still finalise some issues with Likhopo… after that I will be able to say what exactly is going to happen,” Thoso said.
Although the registration was meant to close on Friday, Thoso believes they will be able to register Mohlominaye at a later stage if the deal succeeds since he is already in the FIFA system. They have even engaged the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA’s) players status committee on the matter.
Mohlominaye has also approached the players status committee for recourse as he wants Likhopo to release him and give him his clearance.
Last week, Likhopo lost a case before the players status committee. Likhopo wanted to block their former defender Tuntu Moroahae, who was on Liphakoe’s radar citing that they still had a contract with the player. They however failed to prove that he indeed still had a running contract.
Players status committee member Advocate Tefo Rabolinyane told the Sunnday Express that they handle multiple cases during transfer windows because most players would be unsure of the contents of their contracts.
“Most players do not have the full details of their contracts and they are not even aware that they have a right to copies of their contracts. This leads to teams cheating players claiming to have running contracts even though such contracts would have expired.
“On the other hand, some players treat clubs unfairly because when they get better offers, they want to force themselves out of running contracts without negotiating with their employers.
“Players must seek clarity on everything before signing and must retain a copy of such contracts… In cases where they do not have copies, they are allowed to approach LeFA offices to be assisted on how to check their contract status in the connect system. Again, the Players Status Committee is there to help them whenever they encounter problems,” Rabolinyane said.
He said most contractual issues are caused by the lack of player intermediaries like managers and agents who can help them with smooth transfers between clubs.