Norman Smith - Why he is out in the cold
Smith - Why he is out in the cold
Posted: 2010-08-30 18:41
Maritzburg United striker Norman Smith insists he would 'rather suffer than be a slave' and remains stuck back home in Kimberley uncertain of his immediate future as he completes the third month without pay even though, he maintains, he is still under contract at the Team of Choice.
Smith is not wanted in Pietermaritzburg and he is also not interested moving to Jomo Cosmos where Maritzburg apparently want him to go as part of a deal that has already brought Ayo Oluwafemi in the opposite direction.
"Ever since Maritzburg tried to force me to go to Cosmos I have been sitting at home because they don't want to give me my clearance unless I go to Cosmos. I don't know what Cosmos has offered Maritzburg for them to want to force me to go there. I have even told Maritzburg that I would rather get my contract terminated and my clearance rather than go to Cosmos," Smith tells KickOff.com.
The nomadic striker says it makes no sense to go back to Cosmos as he continues to suffer.
"I don't want to go back to Cosmos partly because I was never paid my June salary while I was there. Plus, when I left Maritzburg, I was told that I would be paid the remainder of my signing-on fee at Cosmos but Jomo Sono said he didn't know a thing about that," the striker alleges.
"Afzal Khan (Maritzburg CEO) had told me that this was the agreement. I don't care who is not saying the right thing, but I believe, for my own good it is better to stay away from Cosmos.
"I was not paid my July salary by Maritzburg who I am still contracted to," Smith adds.
"When my manager approached Maritzburg about my salary they apparently told him that he must talk to Cosmos because I belonged there. How can I be a Cosmos player when I don't even have a contract that states my personal terms and that I am their player?
"Afzal has told me that he will not give me my clearance; that no team in the PSL wants me and that is why I have to go to Cosmos. Even when I tell them that it's better to terminate my contract and hand me my clearance, but that is also an issue.
"My mother brought me up in such a way that I should fight for what is good for me," says Smith.
Khan tells KickOff.com that Cosmos negotiated with them which is why they have released the player to Ezenkosi.
"He asked to be released and we obliged sending him to Cosmos who had negotiated with us for his services with the intention of then engaging him on his personal terms after he had spent the last half of last season with them.
"If he is not happy about going to Cosmos, I am sure we can still work something out if he is also willing to. How can we pay a player that has been released to another club? We haven't seen him for a month now and word from Cosmos is that he keeps promising them that he is coming.
"With regards to his signing on fee, the agreement was that it would be paid in two installments with the first being paid at the beginning of last season, which we did, and the last in January and this is clear in the contract.
"So the last payment was to come from Cosmos as per what was agreed on in the loan deal. We, as Maritzburg, don't owe Norman a cent. He is a confused boy who has had problems with every club that he has been to and we as Maritzburg don't have a history of not paying players," Khan claims.
: 2010-08-30 22:06
Comment on this article:
TERMS OF USE: The comments posted below do not reflect the views of KickOff.com. Users are reminded that no misuse of this comment facility will be tolerated. Any abusive, racist or inflammatory comments will be deleted and the user banned. Please report abusive posts to editor@kickoff.com