Chawanangwa Kaonga completes Fifa ban
On-and-off Malawi National Football Team attacker Chawanangwa Kaonga can now heave a sigh of relief after completing a six-month ban for breach of contract.
Kaonga was at the centre of a transfer wrangle involving Glad Africa Championship side TS Sporting and Mozambican club Costa Do Sol.
In February this year, Fifa fined Kaonga and Sporting $48,062 (about K39 million) as compensation to Costa for breach of contract in February.
The player was banned from any official match from February to last month.
Kaonga said he was waiting to be cleared as he is also hunting for a club after the expiry of his contract with Sporting in May.
“I am still weighing offers. Sporting wanted to renew my contract but there is nothing concrete at the moment,” he said.
Costa reported Kaonga to Fifa, claiming he joined Sporting before expiry of his contract.
Kaonga joined Sporting in January 2020 on a two-year deal from Costa.
He helped Costa win the Mocambola League after scoring 10 goals including a brace in a 4-2 victory over UD Songo in a title decider in 2019.
Malawian football journalist Benjamin Nyirenda, who writes for South African leading soccer magazine Soccer Laduma, said the ban was a setback for Kaonga.
“Like in any other career, a ban or suspension is a setback. Chawanangwa has lost a lot of time on the sidelines. Now he has to start all over again. The ban has had a negative impact on his career,” Nyirenda said.
Kaonga made a brilliant start to his Sporting career and was linked with a move to DStv Premiership giants Kaizer Chiefs last year.
However, the deal did not happen as Chiefs were serving a transfer ban.
