After relegating to the lower division at the end of last season, Gunners' problems were compounded when they were slapped with a transfer ban for failure to pay veteran defender, Desire Bafana. FIFA had ordered the club to pay a whopping P400,000 in less than two months and failing to do so, they would face a ban. However assistant coach, Unaswi Moshabi has said they still have hope that the ban will be lifted. “We were slapped with a ban by FIFA, which has made things really difficult for us as a club, but our management is still in talks with FIFA fighting tooth and nail to try and win the issue,” he said.
Moshabi said they want to try and be competitive next season and be able to take part in the transfer window. He also expressed hope that the matter gets resolved before the league starts. “We hope the management gets to win their talks with FIFA and hopefully before the league starts but if the decision by FIFA is not on our side, we will have to source players from our development,” Moshabi said. Moshabi revealed that the number of players is not standing at 12 as it was the case in the past few weeks.
After their annual general meeting (AGM), it was reported that the team had only 12 players left. “We do have more than 12 players who are now available for selection and they are not 12 like it had been the case before. And these are the players that are ready to play as long as the league commences even if the ban is not lifted before the league starts,” he revealed. Asked where the other players come from, Moshabi stated that they sourced from their development structures. “We now have 18 players and we will be ready when the league starts. These are the players that come from our development ranks. We hope to work with them and help them grow in their career,” he said. Moshabi stated that currently they do not expect any player to leave the club but acknowledged that one can never know the players’ minds in the transfer window. Going into next season’s targets, Moshabi said the team has only one mandate which is to get back to where it belongs (the Premier League). “We have a very good recovery plan which is in place and if everything goes well, our fans will not miss us much as we will be back with the big boys,” Moshabi said.
Commenting on their pre-season preparations after losing the Diski Dlala Festival Tournament to Notwane, he stated that Gunners have fared well in pre-season. “Our pre-season has been good so far, played many tournaments like this one where we have faced so called minor opponents and also tougher opponents but I have to say everything is going well so far,” he concluded.
