Nightmare ends for Nigerian goalkeeper

A Nigerian footballer is finally on his way back home after being detained in Malta for nearly three months following a disastrous trial with a local football club.

Chuka Ngenge, 25, was relieved to be told yesterday morning that he would be leaving the country on Tuesday after a "nightmare" stay here.

Mr Ngenge was brought over at the end of last season for a trial period with Mosta FC. But after the club showed no interest in him, he ended embroiled in visa complications.

In July, Mr Ngenge pleaded not guilty to being in Malta without leave from the immigration authorities, telling the court he had come here to play for the Mosta football club but hoped to play for another club if that fell through.

The police told the court that the Mosta football club wrote to them on May 24 saying that Mr Ngenge's visa had expired, and that they were not applying for an extension.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti had denied Mr Ngenge's request for bail.

When contacted, Henri Ekezie, who was the link between the club and the player, said the problem of repatriating the footballer to his homeland boiled down to "bureaucracy and legal proceedings".

Police sources said the procedure took so long because Mr Ngenge had appealed against the decision not to grant him a work permit.

Mr Ekezie said that Mr Ngenge was a very good goalkeeper who used to play in the same team as Birkirkara FC stalwart Chucks Nwoko back in Nigeria.

"Sadly, in his first friendly with Mosta he played terribly and the club gave up on him. If he performed, Mosta would have signed him on."

Football clubs were duty bound to report to the police any footballers whose visa had expired, Mr Ekezie pointed out.

In the meantime, Mr Ekezie tried to negotiate a contract with another team, but during the subsequent appeal, the court denied him bail since it considered Mr Ngenge to be an illegal immigrant. This meant that he could not have trials with other teams.

In most cases, foreign footballers on trial must either pay for their own airfares or find a sponsor.

Speaking to The Times from the Hal-Far centre for immigrants, Mr Ngenge said he had been treated "like a criminal" for nearly three months.

"I spent two days at police headquarters, then I was taken to court and charged, spent 45 days at the Corradino Correctional Facility, then went to police headquarters once again for two weeks, and to Hal-Far for the last nine days.

"I am not used to these things. I came here to play football and not to be imprisoned. And all this happens as my wife is about to give birth to our third child," he said.

To make matters worse, the footballer insisted that he did not have the money to buy the air ticket back to Nigeria.

He asked why Mosta FC only gave him a five-day trial, when it was the norm for other teams to let a player try out in four or five games.

Furthermore, his nightmare stay in Malta had ruined his professional football career, especially since the deadline for the registration of new footballers in his home country had now elapsed.

"I played in the national league in Nigeria for seven years. My plight has been reported in the newspapers. How do you think football teams will perceive me now?" he asked.

Mosta FC president Charles Abela said the club had no obligation towards the player other than to give him a trial - the same as it did with other players.

"All I can tell you is that we gave him more than one chance," Mr Abela said.