FIFA compels Kotoko to pay €30,000 on Shilla Illiasu

The financial woes of Kotoko at the time when money is needed by the Dr. K. K Sarpong administration to recruit quality players for the upcoming season has been worsened by a directive by world football governing body, FIFA for Kotoko to cough out €30,000 to FC Saturn of Russia.

The money is in respect of a refund of payment of Solidarity Mechanism that FC Saturn paid on the behalf of Kotoko when Shilla Illiasu was transferred to them in 2006.

Per Articles 20 and 21 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players which became operational in September 2001, Kotoko was supposed to have paid that amount to all the clubs Shilla played before joining Kotoko, but the management at that time defaulted payment.

The clubs that were supposed to have benefitted however made a petition to FIFA. However, FC Saturn was so much impressed with the performance of Shilla after the Germany 2006 World Cup that, they did not want to wait for the case to be ruled on before getting the chance to use the player and also not wanting to infringe on sections of Russian Football Federation’s regulations that forbids teams to engage in player transfer brouhaha decided to pay off the clubs.

According to their petition sheet as cited, they did that with the understanding receiving a re-imbursement from Kotoko, but after waiting for three years, they sent in a petition to that effect in 2009.

The case has pended before the FIFA Player status committee for all that while till a single judge sat and ruled last week that Kotoko pay the money to FC Saturn within thirty days of the ruling or face harsher sanctions.

According to the ruling, if Kotoko is unable to pay the that amount before the first week of the month of August, they would be liable to 5% interest per annum and also lose some privileges at FIFA.