Admin l Wednesday, 06 April 2022
SPAIN – Nigerian Super Eagles Striker, Kelechi Nwakali has opened up on how his club SD Huesca bullied him before terminating his contract. Kelechi Nwakali who issued a statement on the social media said he was forced to speak up after the club announced the termination of his contract.
He said had kept silent out of respect for the club and teammates but that he will no long suffer in silence. According to him, the past few months have been awful for him and his family. Recalling the genesis of the crisis at the club, Nwakali said, In December 2021 he experienced the biggest honour of his life after he received a full international call up to play for his beloved country, Nigeria.
“But the joy of this moment quickly came crashing down when the club’s Sporting Director, Ruben Garcia put extreme pressure on me not to go to AFCON due to it “not being an important tournament’. He told me that if I go to AFCON, I will not play for Huesca again. This behaviour and the lack of respect shown to my country Nigeria was truly heart breaking and it was just the latest example of the club attempting to bully me into getting their way.
“For months, the club has been abusing its power to bully me into signing a new contract. These tactics have included paying me late on numerous occasions. The breakdown in negotiation came when my mother fell ill and I asked Ruben for the wages the club already owed me in order to pay for my mother’s hospital bill and treatment.
“Reuben Garcia responded to my request by saying “Sign this new contract and we will pay you what’s owed tonight”. Kelechi Nwakali said that despite this tactics, he refused to yield and joined his teammates in Cameroon for AFCON.
“Before Nigeria’s last 16 game against Tunisia on the 23rd January, 2022 I began to feel unwell and was diagnosed with a Respiratory Tract Infection. As a result, I was not fit enough to play in the game against Tunisia. After we were eliminated from the tournament, I was unable to return to the club immediately as planned because of my illness following advice from the doctor, then on the last day of the transfer market, January 31, 2021, when I was in the process of returning to join my teammates at Huesca, Robert Garcia rang me to tell me I had to leave the club after a late offer came in from another la Liga club
“He threatened that he would not pay me if I did not leave the club. The option that was given to me was leave or we will open up disciplinary action.
“Before January 31st, I was never told by the club that they wanted tme leave in January and this was not a decision that I felt was right for me at the time.
“After returning to the club on February 1st, Reuben Garcia and the club lawyer opened disciplinary proceedings against me, suspending me from training and banning me from the training ground. As a result , I had to seek the help of the Spanish Football Union(The AFE) who have been in an ongoing dispute with Huesca”, he said, adding that after some months the club allowed him in into training ground but forcing him to grain alone and not receive treatment from club physiotherapy team.
He related that during this period, the club refused to pay his wages but remained silent hoping that there would be an amicable solution.
“But yesterday, when I turned up to the training ground, a member of the club tried to force me to sign a mutual termination papers which I refused to do”, he said since his family depends on him as bread winner.
While thanking his club mates, he said he will never regret his decision to represent Nigeria.
