Tambwe: Yanga SC have paid me but I have to check my account

Amissi Tambwe has revealed Yanga SC have reached out to him stating they have paid him the money they owed him but he will only confirm it when he checks his bank account in Burundi.

The Jangwani giants were ordered by the world governing body Fifa to pay the Burundian forward Tsh43.5m accrued from sign-on fees and salaries after his unceremonious exit from the club at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Nevertheless, they did not pay the money owed right away, a move that saw Fifa hand them a ban of three years from transfer activities.

However, Yanga's head of information and communications, Hassan Bumbuli, on Thursday said they had transferred the USD22,791 (Tshs 52,603,000) as directed by Fifa.

The player, who currently plies his trade in Djibouti, has since said he had received a phone call from Yanga officials who told him they had paid his money by depositing it in his account, but insisted he would know the truth when he returned to Burundi to check with the bank.

“You know I am currently in Djibouti finishing one league match and I have managed to score 17 goals in 16 matches but about Yanga they actually called my lawyer and confirmed they have paid the money I was claiming in the past by putting it in my account,” Tambwe said as quoted by Sokalabongo.

“I have accepted their decision but I am still not sure because I am currently away from my country, so it is difficult to know if they have really settled the matter but since I finish the league here in three days, I will be in Burundi, so I will believe if they really paid the amount or not when I go home.”

In a recent interview, Tambwe confirmed he was yet to be paid by the club as ordered by Fifa.

“Personally, I don't know anything from Yanga at the moment other than they have not paid me yet despite receiving a phone call from Engineer, Hersi Saidi and telling me to calculate the amount I claim, my lawyer did so and sent them the amount but nothing new until now,” Tambwe explained.

“As far as I know, Fifa gave them 45 days to pay but so far they have not communicated to me nor paid anything, so as it stands, they cannot sign any player until they have paid and contacted my lawyer to return the information to Fifa.”

The striker left Yanga in the 2018-19 season when then-head coach Mwinyi Zahera dropped him for the 2019-20 season, however, he left behind a debt of Tsh43.5 million, a decision which Cas ordered the club to pay within 45 days, from December 1, 2020.