AFC Leopards fans can now breath a sigh of relief after the club reached an agreement on modalities of payment with their former coach Patrick Aussems about how they will clear over Ksh20 million due to him.
Leopards were facing the prospect of being locked out of the Football Kenya Federation next season had they not come up with a clear plan to clear dues owed to Aussems over breach of contract by the end of Saturday.
Ingwe are currently under a transfer embargo over the bill and have been unbale to register their new players but more was coming after it emerged that the club is yet to complete all the necessary documents that will see them get their Club License, a process whose deadline is Saturday.
It meant Leopards had to find a way to reach a resolution on the pending payments or risk having CAF’s Club Licensing Online Platform closed before they submit their documents which would see them barred from featuring in the league.
“The club has reached an agreement with the former coach. There is a detailed plan on how they will make the payments,” a source from the club, who sought anonymity as he is not authorised to speak on the matter, told Pulse Sports.
“It is the federation officials and club bosses working on this. They will now submit the payment plan as part of their documents for the Club Licensing today (Saturday) and we expect that after that, FIFA will also lift our transfer ban.”
Leopards are believed to have already wired $55,000 (Ksh7.8 million) to the Belgian tactician with a further $27,000 (Ksh3.8 million) to be paid on August 14. Another tranche of $40,000 (Ksh5.7 million) will be paid by December 5 with the last installment of $30,000 (Ksh4.2 million) agreed to be wired on March 5, 2023.
The agreement is in line with Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda’s promise to find a solution to the matter within the next 10 days.
“We need to clear first and foremost with the former coach but all said and done, we are confident that if we do that. We should sort out the situation within the next 10 days hopefully,” Shikanda told Pulse Sports on Friday.
The Belgian, who left Leopards last month after two-and-a-half years in charge, reported the club to FIFA in March 2022 over unpaid dues of Ksh3.5 million from July 31, 2021, when he signed a new two-year contract, to December 28, 2021.
FIFA accepted his claim, ordering the club to pay him Ksh3.5 million as remuneration and Ksh17 million as compensation for breach of contract, while also slapping them with a three-window transfer ban for failing to pay him within 45 days.
