Boy Madingwane's lawyer, Kabelo Mashego, has responded to Baroka FC chairman Khurishi Mphahlele's statement about his client.
Madingwane, currently with Chippa United, might not be able to make his Betway Premiership debut anytime soon due to Baroka's ongoing matter.
His contract with the second-tier side had expired when he joined the Gqeberha-based outfit in July.
A five-month contract plus an option was signed by Boy at Baroka. "The player has told me and Chippa United that Baroka (Baroka) never exercised his option, they never sent him an option letter, and he became free to sign with any club on July 1st," Mashego tells KickOff exclusively.
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After Chippa made it public that they had signed the boy, Baroka came forward claiming they had exercised the option, and they produced a document stating the player had also signed.
According to the League, this is a matter that needs to be dealt with in the ordinary court, and we filed an urgent application for the player to be declared a free agent and for them to handle the issues related to this option. In other words, it can't be urgent because it needs to be resolved based on facts.
Several weeks ago, we sent an email to Baroka requesting an original of that letter so that we could authenticate it.
We also asked them to tell us where that letter is because they are saying they have also submitted that letter to the League, indicating that they have exercised their option. So, whether the letter that was sent to the League was original or not is unknown.
I'm not saying that's what happened, but your signature will clarify all that if someone forged the document.
According to Mashego, Baroka has not responded to their request for the letter, adding that its exact location is unclear.
They said they were not sure where the original was... Maybe it was with the league, maybe it was with their advocate. They are unsure.
"My instructions are to go to the League and ask them to uplift it. That's where we are. Baroka refused to issue the clearance."
According to him, he didn't sign the document and wasn't informed that Baroka was exercising the option, so he's remaining with Chippa until the DRC [Dispute Resolution Chamber] resolves the issue.
In the process, they have sent him letters telling him to come back to work. But that would mean admitting he exercised the option. The problem is that the player can't file his claim until the document is authenticated.
As soon as the document is located, it will be examined by a handwriting expert.
According to the handwriting expert, if the chairman and the player's signatures are original, then the player is lying.
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But if the handwriting expert claims the signature was forged, then we won't even need to go to the DRC.
As soon as the club sends us the original, we can resolve this. But they've been silent since then."
Since the player's one-year option was triggered, Mphahlele believes he belongs to Bakgaga.
In the case of the boy Madingwane, his camp took us to the DRC under urgent complaint, but the DRC rejected it, saying there is no urgency since the boy has a contract.
It is not possible to say a boy must get clearance from Baroka FC when he has an existing contract. That's why the urgency issue was thrown out.
They refuse to talk to us, they refuse to make an offer, they remain silent.
We are a professional outfit. We are not amateurs. We can't go around stealing other people's players," declares Mphahlele.
Similarly, Mduduzi Mdantsane took Cape Town City to the PSL DRC to have his cessation ratified when he left Baroka for Cape Town City in 2019.
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Until the matter was resolved, Mdantsane was not issued a player's card by the PSL.
Mdantsane was only able to make his City debut in January 2020 due to the case.
