Moorosi Tsiane
FORMER Lioli defender, Thato Sefoli, has lodged a complaint with FIFA to force the side to pay him his full salary, which the team failed to do from September 2020 to March 2021.
The South African defender, who joined Tse Nala from GladAfrica championship side, Real Kings, in January last year is accusing Lioli of contravening its contractual obligations after failing to pay him his full salary since September 2020.
In March this year, the towering defender asked the team to release him from his contract which was supposed to lapse at the end of the 2021/22 season.
“For the past five months, the club failed to pay my full salary, every time I asked about my salary president (Lebohang) Thotanyana says ‘’the club will not be able to pay my full salary since it is financially challenged,” part of Sefoli’s letter reads.
The player had been getting only half of his M10 000 salary. He said he only received 70 percent of his salary in November 2020.
In response, Lioli said it had not breached its contract with the player because during the said period, the player was not rendering any services to the club.
The club said the player had also failed to follow due process in seeking to terminate his contract.
But in a new twist of events, Sefoli, through the South African Football Players Union, has now approached FIFA for recourse.
Lioli general manager, Hlalele Matobako, confirmed that the club has been summoned by FIFA. He however, could not be drawn into revealing any further details.
“A few days ago, we received FIFA’s summons from the South African Football Players Union who are representing Sefoli in the matter.
“I will not comment any further for fear of jeopardising FIFA’s processes,” Matobako said.
Efforts to get a comment from the player were fruitless this week as he did not respond to messages sent to his phone. It is also unclear what his total demands from Lioli are.
