Glo Premier League side, Abia Warriors, has refuted media reports that CHAN 2016 revelation, Chisom Chikatara’s move to Wydad Athletic Club Casablanca of Morocco was $700,000.
The club legal consultants, Johhny Ogbah, who spoke on behalf of the Umuahia-based side said “The truth is that Chisom Chikatara is now a player of WAC Morocco. All parties have agreed and signed the necessary documents, but the figure being quoted is not correct.
“It is important that journalists verify stories before rushing to publish it. I read the story and there was no single quote from an official of either clubs, or the player or his intermediary. I wonder where the journalists got the figures they are brandishing from.
“Our national dailies too should be careful to verify stories they see on websites before publishing them. A simple phone call may have given the true picture of the whole scenario but nobody did so, they just rushed and published without verifying. This is very bad.”
Asked to reveal the exact figure, Ogbah said it would be unethical for him to do so.
“As is the practice in other climes, if you must report a figure, confirm it. If you do not confirm it, then report is as an undisclosed fee as it is the business of both clubs involved to choose to disclose the fee to the press if they wanted, otherwise they are not bound by any law to do so,” Ogbah said.
In his reaction, Abia Warriors chairman, Chief Emeka Inyama said the striker has already signed the dotted lines to join Wydad Casablanca, adding that he was now updating his documents at the Moroccan embassy to enable him to join his new club as soon as possible.