Moorosi Tsiane
MATLAMA coach Thabile Secker has bemoaned the absence of his two Ghanaian defenders, Michael Mireku and Patrick Nyango, who has been out of action since the Econet Premier League 2018/2019 season started in September last year.
The duo could not be registered by the team during last year’s winter transfer window period due to unavailability of their International Transfer Certificates (ITCs) from the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
Nyango and Mireku played a pivotal role in central midfield of the Matlama team which won the Top8 tournament last season.
They were however, restricted from playing by the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) which said they should produce their ITC’s to be registered properly.
Matlama then applied for the certificates which unfortunately did not arrive by the time the transfer window closed in August 2018. This left Matlama hoping that the players would at least be available in the current January transfer window.
But according to Secker, the players have still not been registered and still cannot afford to use them.
He said the players’ unavailability has negatively affected his team by narrowing his selection pool.
“It is a very frustrating situation that these players are in and the sad part is we really need them in the team because they will bring that depth,” Secker told the Sunday Express recently while they were preparing for the top of the table clash with LCS that was played yesterday.
Matlama went into yesterday’s match seating second on the 14-team Premier League table with 29 points while LCS were leading the pack with 33 points.
Secker said some of his players have become relaxed due to lack of competition for their positions which has necessitated the availability of the Ghanaian pair.
“The last time I checked, their papers were still being processed by LeFA so, I really can’t say much. However, I need them in my team as soon as possible because they will bring back competition for positions because once some players realise there are no other options for their positions they relax,” he said.
On his part, Matlama general manager Limpho Tshepe confirmed that the two players still haven’t been registered but said they are awaiting the ITCs from the GFA.
“It is tough to pay players who are not playing but we were advised to re-apply for the ITC by LeFA and hopefully we will get the papers before the end of the January transfer window so that we can register them.
“We have contracts with them and we have to keep our end of the bargain and pay them but we have to ensure that they get their paper work ready so that they can do what is expected of them,” Tshepe said.
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