BY SANDRA MWILA –

•DEFENDER Christopher Munthali (right) with Players Union chairman Linos Chalwe leaves Football House after being slapped with two-month ban yesterday Picture By GWEN CHIPASULA.

ZAMBIA international defender Christopher Munthali has been sanctioned with a two-month ban from all football activities for double-dealing and has been ordered to return to Power Dynamos.
The ban was effective yesterday meaning he will only return to the game on April 10 and will miss not just the Charity Shield and a few league games but all the two crucial 2017 Africa Cup qualifiers against Congo Brazzaville at home and away.
And Nkana FC has been fined K10, 000 for signing Munthali who still has running contract with Power Dynamos.
The FAZ Players Status Committee yesterday ruled that Munthali was a Power Dynamos player and that his contract with the club will run until the end of this year.
FAZ Players’ Status Committee Chairperson Lombe Mbalashi and Players Union chairman Linos Chalwe presided over the matter yesterday.
The verdict came after Munthali appeared before the committee where he was quizzed for more than two hours.
Mbalashi told the media that the committee had ruled that Munthali has a running contract with Power that expires in 2016.
He said Nkana were at fault in the saga and have since been slapped with a K10, 000 fine for failure to approach Power before signing the player.
“After deliberations, it has been ruled that Munthali has a valid contract with Power that expires on December 31, 2016. Munthali is a Power Dynamos player and has been ordered to go back to the club,” Mbalashi said.
He said Nkana signed Munthali on the mistaken belief that the player’s contract had expired and have been fined for not doing due diligence and not following procedure.
“Nkana gave Munthali a contract with a mistaken belief that his contract with Power had expired. Nkana has been sanctioned for failure to approach Power before signing the player,” Mbalashi said.
He said the committee had exercised leniency on the player by giving him a two-month ban as he was a first offender.
Mbalashi added that he was disappointed that contracts were still an issue in this era.
“Under the FIFA statutes, we are allowed to ban Munthali and we have banned him for two months. Other than that we are disappointed that we still have issues on contracts in this era.
“We have actually exercised leniency on the player being a first offender,” Mbalashi said.
He further sent a stern warning to players and clubs who would breach contracts.
Meanwhile Power secretary Ricky Mamfunda said that they have been vindicated over the matter and that he was happy that the ruling went in their favour because Munthali was indeed their player.
He further urged players to respect contracts because they were legally binding documents.
“It’s been a marathon from the time this issue broke. We have been vindicated, the player belongs to Power. The only thing I can urge the players is that contracts are legally binding documents and should be respected,” he said.
And Nkana secretary Ken Mwansa said they will respect the committee’s decision and that going forward, the club will be more careful with such dealings.