Gor Mahia threaten legal action against Kenya Police over Shakava transfer

Barely hours after Harun Shakava ditched Gor Mahia for league debutants Kenya Police FC, drama is slowly milling around the widely discussed transfer as the record Kenyan champions are threatening to sue the deep pocketed law enforcers for player tapping.

Shakava ditches Gor Mahia for Kenya Police FC

According to K’Ogalo, the former captain who was earlier unveiled toady by Police is still under contract having signed a two-year deal with the club when he rejoined in February last year after severing ties with former Zambian champions Nkana.

Having signed the reported two-season long contract then, the club state that the defender is supposed to be serving the club till February next year unless offers are placed on their table and agrees to cash him.

For that reason, Gor claim that the law administrators have acted in contravention of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players that prohibit an entity from persuading a player contracted to one team to transfer to another team without the knowledge or permission of the player's current team with club Secretary General Sam Ocholla issuing a press release stating that Gor will seek immediate legal action on both the club and the player.

“Gor Mahia Football Club has noted with concern from a section of media what claims to be a purported unveiling of their contracted player Haron Shakava by Police Football Club as their player. Haron Shakava has a running contract with Gor Mahia FC which neither party has terminated. The action by Police FC amounts to player tapping which is prohibited by FIFA statutes and Regulation 18.3 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (“FIFA Regulations”).

As Gor Mahia FC we have initiated a legal action against both Police FC and the player and Gor Mahia FC will be serving them with appropriate legal demands in due course with a view of having the player and the club punished appropriately and proportionately to their misconduct,” the release read.

However in a rebuttal, Kenya Police maintain that they did their home work well before luring the player who last featured for Gor in the 3-0 defeat in the hands of Posta Rangers last week to their camp.

The club's team manager George Maelo revealed that they had carefully studied the nitty gritties of the contract Shavaka penned at Gor in February last year which indicated that his stay would elapse in January, thus they acquired his signature as a free agent.

“If Gor Mahia wanted to make a claim, there is a caretaker committee in place that they should have gone to. We are the police and we cannot do something without confirming the details. We did everything right and we verified that Shakava’s contract was coming to an end on 29th January 2022, that is why we told him we would sign him in February. We even followed that up with the federation,”

“They are engaging in unnecessary drama due to the pressure from fans who are on their necks. If Gor Mahia are making the claim, let them bring a copy to ascertain everything. Shakava himself confirmed and even wrote his appreciation letter today as he severed ties with the club,” said the former Sofapaka defender.