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Fifpro urges Safa to investigate allegations that a former Arrows player was forced to sign a contract at gunpoint

The International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) has urged the South African Football Association (Safa) to investigate allegations that former Golden Arrows midfielder Clifton Miheso was forced to sign a contract at gunpoint.

The incident allegedly happened on January 14.

In a statement that was released on Friday night‚ Fifpro said it was disturbed to hear that Miheso was pressured by two men carrying guns to sign a document agreeing to terminate his contract with Arrows.

“The world football players union understands the pair arrived at the club’s offices and ordered the 23-year old Kenyan to sign a document agreeing to accept less than one month of pay from the remaining six months of his contract. When details of the threat emerged in the media‚ Miheso said he was put under pressure by the club to write a statement that the gun threat did not happen and also withdrew a complaint to police‚” Fifpro said in a statement.

Fifpro added that Miheso‚ who has since returned to Kenya‚ said his career has been put on hold because the transfer window has shut in his home country and they trust that the South African Football Players Union (Safpu) and authorities will take every effort to investigate and hold accountable those who are responsible for this crime.

“We are deeply concerned that any player should have to face such an ordeal‚ and then allegedly be made to cover up the truth to protect the club and its officials‚” said FIFPro General Secretary Theo van Seggelen.

“We urge the South African football federation to take what happened to Clifton Miheso very seriously‚” added SAFPU General Secretary Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe.

“The boy was under duress. He was very‚ very scared. It is only now he’s back in Kenya that he speaks freely.”

The recently-published 2016 FIFPro Global Employment Report found young and foreign players are more vulnerable to abuse‚ with foreigners more than twice as likely to face discrimination as domestic footballers.

 

TMG Digital/TMG Sport

 

 

 

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