Nairobi News

Kenyan Premier League side AFC Leopards is facing an imminent ban on signing new players for breaching the contract of their former head coach Patrick Aussems, Nairobi News can exclusively reveal.

Confidential documents in our possession indicate that Leopards, who finished seventh in last season’s Football Kenya Federation Premier League that concluded last month, are in a financial quagmire after failing to pay a sum of Sh20 million to Aussems in a contractual dispute.

It all started in May 2022 when Leopards was ordered to pay a $145,000 (Sh20 million – plus interest – at the current exchange rates) fine for breaching their contract with Aussems, a Belgian UEFA certified coach.

This came after Aussems lodged a complaint at the Fifa Football Tribunal, saying the Leopards failed to honour their end of the deal in paying him his dues despite the compromises he agreed to for their sake.

According to the documents in our possession, Aussems wrote to the club several times, asking for his dues that amounted to $25,300 (Sh3.5 million) in unpaid signing bonuses, plane tickets and signing fees to be paid to him. These dues had accrued from July 31, 2021, when he signed a new two-year contract, to December 28, 2021 after not receiving any pay.

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“Knowing difficulties encountered by clubs in general in these times of pandemic and the suspension that Fifa imposed on the club for failure to fulfill its duties towards some employees, I was conciliatory in accepting certain adjustments, in particular, concerning the bonus for the signature for the two seasons (payable in several installments), the plane tickets and the guarantee of having the salary paid on time. Bonus for the month to date, the club has not kept its commitments,” Aussems said in 2021.

He went on to inform the club management that if they did not keep their commitments, he would be forced to “claim all of the sums and obtain damages negotiated for the duration of the contract according to Fifa standards.”

The timeline agreed upon for the club to pay these monies lapsed with no amount paid to Aussems.

On January 4, 2022, Leopards responded to him, saying they hoped to reach an agreement on the payment of his outstanding signing fees.

“We confirm that we are aware of the importance of the situation and are willing to resolve it amicably and soon enough. Our financial situation has not been stable owing to a loss of income particularly from gate collections in addition to a decrease in sponsorship grants all of which are related to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Victor Bwibo, the Chief Executive Officer of AFC Leopards said a response letter.

“However, we have prioritized this matter, and in light of that, we respectfully request your patience and understanding as we work to fully settle the outstanding debt,” Bwibo further said.

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On January 13, 2022, Aussems wrote back, this time negotiating with the club to pay him an initial amount of $10,000 (Sh1.4 million) within 10 days and the remaining $15,000 (Sh 2.1 million) no later than the end of February 2022. He copied Fifa and CAF in the email this time around.

Fast forward to  March 15, 2022, Fifa wrote to Leopards informing them of a claim lodged against them before the Football Tribunal by Coach Aussems. They invited Leopards to state their position on the matter as investigations began.

On May 18, 2022, Fifa notified both Aussems and Leopards of their findings on the employment-related dispute between the two parties.

“The claim of the claimant, Patrick Aussems, is accepted. The respondent, AFC Leopards Sports Club, has to pay $25,000 (Sh3.5 million) as outstanding remuneration and $120,000 (Sh17 million) as compensation for breach of contract. Any further claimants are rejected,” Fifa Football Tribunal said.

The club was given 45 days to make the payments in full failure to which they would face being banned from registering new players or the case forwarded to the Fifa Disciplinary Committee at the request of Aussems.

Sources have further exclusively indicated to Nairobi News that the club did not pay Aussems his remuneration and compensation as ordered by Fifa; and the club did not appeal the ruling.

As such, the club now has to contend with paying the huge sum of cash to Aussems, who left the club early this month, and a possible ban on signing new players, until that amount is paid in full.

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