Kayode Must Rejoin ASEC - FIFA The prolonged transfer saga that has stalled the once-soaring career of Flying Eagles striker to this year’s U-20 World Cup in Turkey, Olanrewaju Kayode took a new turn yesterday, when global soccer governing body, FIFA has ordered him back to ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire. The judgment comes in variance with Kayode’s hopes of taking his trade to Europe, where a deal at Hadjut Split of Croatia lies in wait for him, alongside less concrete offers in Greece and Romania, but he will now have to retrace his footsteps to the club he signed for after aiding Nigeria’s surge to silver as hosts of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2009. Abidjan-based ASEC had complained all along that the lanky striker was still under contract with them, despite his efforts at another transfer move to Club Africain of Tunisia, which he eventually dropped on account of a lopsided contract offered by the team, but he ended up toiling for form at both the African Youth Championship (AYC) and Youth Mundial earlier this year. Aside botched deals in Tunisia and Croatia, another proposed move to Heartland of Owerri fell through for Kayode, as ASEC again refused to surrender his International Transfer Certificate (ITC). During that period, Kayode was also involved in a spat with Osun State Football Association chairman, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi over allegations of tying him to a slavery contract, but he will now have to return to ASEC in order to get his career back on track. MTNFootball gathered that the order from the FIFA legal office caused the investigative panel on the matter between Kayode and Ogunjobi, set up by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) not to sit last week. It was also gathered that ASEC, who say they have a contract with Kayode till November 2014, have equally forwarded a detailed dossier on the matter as well as on the player to the NFF. “FIFA have asked the player to return to ASEC. The letter was sent to the NFF and that explains why there was no need for the investigative panel to again sit on the player’s petition,” a top source informed MTNFootball. However, Kayode’s agent, Emeka Ezeala, told MTNFootball that he was not aware of such an order, insisting the case is still with the FIFA legal office. “I’m not aware of this order because in the first place, on what basis would such a decision have been taken?” Ezeala demanded.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:39:45 +0000
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