Mulenga on his fight with Jomo!

Wherever Clifford Mulenga goes, he is followed by the ‘Bad Boy’ tag. Perhaps this explains why at 31 years of age, he has played for a total of 10 teams. And so when he came out with shocking revelations of non-payment of players at Jomo Cosmos, many might have thought it was mischief-making yet again by the talented but wayward Zambian-born footballer. But that was not the case, and Mulenga feels he has a strong case against the club. Soccer Laduma’s Beaver Nazo sat down with him…

Beaver Nazo: Judas, your issue with Jomo Cosmos, which spilled out into the public domain in August, has had people talking. What is the latest?

Clifford Mulenga: My contract was supposed to end in 2019, but according to FIFA rules, if the club fails to pay the player for three months, then the contract should be terminated. So I went to SAFPU (South African Football Players Union)and we looked at my contract – we calculated the amount that they owe me and it amounted to three months of unpaid salary. We are now waiting for a verdict from FIFA to make a ruling. We took my case directly to FIFA because of my international status. The last time I got a salary from Cosmos was in May and it was not even a full amount. It is tough, but luckily, I have a very good support system around me and because of that I am coping.

BN: Did SAFPU try to engage with Jomo Sono?

CM: We have tried; even before the end of last season, they engaged him to ask him about the issue and he promised that he would pay me and even said that he is waiting for Chippa Mpengesi to pay him for the players he sold to him, Linda Mntambo and Mxolisi Macuphu. He also said he had issues with SARS (South African Revenue Service) but he had won the case and was waiting for the money from them so he could pay me. He even gave me the date but the date came and passed a couple of times without payment. That is when I decided to take the matter to FIFA. BN: Sure. CM: Cosmos called me into a meeting and told me that they wanted to cut my salary for the 2018/19 season because they could not afford the salary they were paying me. I said, “Okay, I love football and I respect the team, but you have to pay me what you owe me for last season and bring the new contract or even give me half of what you owe me and then I will take the pay cut.” They agreed to that and I was speaking with the club’s lawyer, Mandla Tshabalala and the assistant coach, Brice Aka. I wasn’t even asking for a lot. Promises were made and there was no money coming. They told us that those of us who could not come to training because they didn’t have money could stay at home. I had to stay at home because I didn’t have money with the hope that they will pay me, but there was nothing coming in, until I decided to take the matter to SAFPU.

BN: It seems you were not being unreasonable.

CM: You know, what hurt me the most is the fact that I have so much respect for Bra J (Sono), a lot. He is a football icon, not only in South Africa but in the rest of the continent. It was a dream for me to work with him. He knows the struggles of soccer players because he was a player himself at one stage. I have played football for a very long time and I thought he was going to treat me with a little bit of respect, but that was not forthcoming. I also have to protect my own interests at the end of the day. I have a kid to look after. I only wanted half of what they owe me, but they couldn’t do even that, so I said to myself Polokwane City and AmaZulu have just been taught a lesson by FIFA and I also have to go there to get my money. I know that justice is going to prevail. A lot of these bosses are getting away with murder and no one is saying anything about it. Jomo showed a bit of arrogance in the way he handled this matter. When someone is wrong and is being arrogant, then you have no option but to fight back and that is what I am doing. If Jomo didn’t show arrogance in the way he handled this, I don’t

think I would have taken the case this far.

BN: Talk to us about what you call “arrogance” by Bra J…

CM: I have played for seven or eight clubs in this country and I went to a club that is owned by the iconic legend of the game and I got this treatment, the worst treatment I ever got in my life. It’s the worse time of my career. I was warned by some of the guys when I joined the club, who were telling me that I was making the biggest mistake by coming here. I told them, “I spoke to the big man and he said everything is fixed.” It makes me cry whenever I think about it. I feel like I wasted a year of my career by joining Cosmos. The treatment was just bad – imagine we are playing for the same team and you get paid and I don’t get my salary. That’s not the way to treat people! It doesn’t matter how many problems you have, but if you have a company and employees, you’ve got to come up with a plan to pay them for the work they do. If you can’t, go and ask for help. It’s just sad. BN: Hmmm. CM: There was a time when Bra J said to us that he would rather pay his children before he pays anyone of us. This was after I had just reminded him that we hadn’t been paid. We were all there! He said that all those who were not happy with the situation were free to leave and they could come and get their clearances. So it started long before I spoke about it. He made me poorer. Joining Cosmos made me poor and broke. But my advice to Bra J is that he must get help. He is well known and loved in South Africa so big businesses will help him. What he is doing to players is not fair. But I will wait for FIFA to give a verdict and I know I will get my money. I know that justice will be done in my case. I will be patient…

BN: But to Bra J’s credit, he did admit to owing some of the players, citing that some were on Absa Premiership salaries. He also said that without a sponsor the wage bill leaves the club with nothing.

CM: I know he said that, but you must understand that we all have valid contracts. I understand that he has financial difficulties, but he was aware of his financial situation when he made us sign contracts. He should have taken measures to help him deal with the situation before he gave players contracts. When I joined the club, he said everything was fine and he gave me a contract and I signed it. So he needs to respect the contract he signed with the player. I am fighting for my contract and the issue of Absa Premiership contracts is not my problem because, at the end of the day, we all get different salaries. He can’t make that excuse to make me poor. I have a family to feed and I can’t feed them when I’m poor.

BN: He also labeled you a rebel, stating that he explained everything to you but you went on and did an interview on national radio.

CM: Asking him to pay me my salary doesn’t make me a rebel. He failed to address me in front of Robert Marawa when I had that interview because he didn’t know what to tell the nation. I was very patient. I had a contract that said I would be paid so much at the end of the month and asking for my money when it was not paid doesn’t make me a rebel. My human rights give me a right to ask for the money I signed for. I was summoned to the club’s Disciplinary Committee twice for this, but it never happened because we got there and they never pitched. They knew that they were wrong for not paying me. If he says I am a rebel, he must have an open conversation through TV or Radio with me and explain why I am a rebel. His intentions now are to end my career because he is Jomo Sono. People have told me that if you go against him your career will be over because he will block your every move. He thinks that, because of his achievements as a player, football owes him. Football is bigger than all of us. We all need to respect the game. He once said some of us think that we can leave that club and get a new club, but that will never happen. I feel like the relevant authorities like the PSL and SAFA need to look into these things and stop protecting people because of who they are and what they did before. Even people like Diego Maradona get called into order in their countries, but not here. Why?

BN: How did the other players feel about all of this?

CM: All of us felt sad, bro. We were all broke and I couldn’t even pay rent for three months. I even gave the estate agent Bra J’s number because they were calling me every day. I then sent him the letter from estate agent and he blocked me from WhatsApp and never took my calls since then. He also instructed the group admin of the team’s WhatsApp group to block me. I couldn’t go to training because I didn’t know what was happening and when exactly training would start. Every day I had to call the guys and ask what’s happening. If you go and ask for your money, then you will be in trouble. He thought that because of my past mistakes, he could just treat me like that and people will believe him. He didn’t know that I can take the case to FIFA and then we will see who is lying. He needs to honour my contract, that’s all I want. Now that I have taken the case to FIFA, he sent a letter to my lawyers, telling them that we must try and resolve the matter amicably. My question was, why would you want to resolve the matter amicably now, when you were calling me a rebel? BN: This is hectic, Judas. CM: A lot of the boys there have been suffering in silence. They all know that what I was saying is true, but they are scared that he will block their moves. I just hope that all the boys that are suffering there will reap the benefits of my fighting. I even lost a lot of friends because of Jomo’s lies, but I know the truth will come out eventually.

BN: Thank you for the chat and we wish everything turns out for the better for you.

CM: Anytime, my brother. The truth will be revealed soon!

“I even lost a lot of friends because of Jomo’s lies.”