Reprieve for Sofapaka as Fifa lifts transfer ban

Team Manager Hillary Echesa says the former FKF-Premier League champions had been blocked from signing new players after former players Fiston Abdul, Musa Omar and ex-assistant coach Pablo Nduimana took them to FIFA over unpaid salary arrears.

"It's true that the ban was lifted yesterday (Wednesday) by FIFA. We had written to them via email and they have reverted by lifting the ban.

“This means that now we can go ahead and register new players that we have signed,” said Echesa.

Echesa hailed FKF for helping in talks between the team and the former players, a deal that saw FIFA clear the club of the charges.

“There are former players from Burundi and an assistant coach that took us to FIFA. We have reached an agreement with them about the payment.”

The Robert Matano-coached side are now eligible to register all the 30 players who will be ready for selection this Saturday when they play Talanta in a league clash

Echese confirmed that 17 new players they signed in the pre-season have now been fully registered and licensed by FKF for selection.

“We have registered 17 new players to make it 30 squad available for selection, a number that is a required maximum by FKF. So we are full house and very ready to go because we have a go ahead from the federation.

“We have the license from the federation and that means that we won't be having only 13 players for selection this weekend like it happened against Tusker.”