Updf FC terminates defender’s contract for ‘missing’ a penalty |Sbk Sports Mail

A footballer’s contract isn‘t worth the paper it is printed on, according to most people involved in the game and given the ease with which players can hold a club hostage, it’s perhaps unsurprising that when a club is in the position to terminate a player’s contract with full prejudice, they are not shy in pulling the trigger.

There are a number of reasons as to why a club might take steps to terminate a player’s contract – failing to prove fitness or disciplinary reasons being the most common.However, oftentimes, the reasons for a club ending an association with a player go beyond the footballing pitch, with some very bizarre reasons being afforded in the recent past.

Startimes Uganda premier league side UPDF FC and roving right back Fred Okot who recently signed a year long deal with the army side in October this year, have reached a settlement that ends the contractual relationship between the two parties.

According to Bigwhale Sports,both parties have reached an agreement to terminate the contract that was in place following Okot’s late penalty miss, a penalty he was not supposed to take in the club’s 1-0 defeat to Kyetume FC in match day four of this season’s Startimes Uganda premier league.

The penalty had offered a great opportunity for the army side to take the lead in the dying minutes with the match still in the balance to apply increased pressure with minimal effort as it required no real tactics, at least relative to the complexity of an entire match.

But the right back took away the attempt from the club’s designated penalty taker under protest from his teammates and coach Kefa Kisala knowing that the penalty kick is the rawest distillation of psychology and repetitive practice in football,with the game at its most primal and basic as the ball must make it into the goal, beyond the goalkeeper, with no defenders in the way.

Unfortunately,Okot who was standing in front of the goal,with the ball placed on a spot marked out precisely 12 yards from the goal line in which Kyetume’s goalkeeper stayed rooted to until Okot made contact with the ball,things didn’t turn out well for him or his team as he failed to convert the penalty.

Not only did his side miss a penalty but also conceded one as the hosts used the resultant counter attack from his penalty miss to win themselves a last minute penalty which Mustafa Mujuzi converted with a lot of ease to hand the slaughters all the three points and condemned Kefa Kisala’s coached side to their first loss of the season, as a result, the decision has been taken to terminate Okot’s contract and oust him from the club.

Okot, a brother to Uganda cranes left back Joseph Benson Ochaya started his football career at Kireka United in Uganda’s second division commonly known as the Fufa big league after a series of brilliant displays in the Copa Coca Cola schools Football Championship with Risah Standard, Mehta Lugazi and St Mary’s SS Kitende.

The right back has previously featured for Kireka United Lweza FC,URA FC and Vipers SC, where he was tipped as the ideal replacement of high flying right back Nicholas Wadada who left the Kitende based outfit and joined Azam FC (Tanzanian).

He also featured for Uganda Hippos (U-20) during the 2018 COSAFA U-20 tournament that was hosted by Zambia.

Hopefully he will be able to find himself a new club soon and perhaps he’ll think twice about attempting a penalty in the future.