By Johnny Edward:
It has emerged from the ongoing case involving Dutch second division club Fortuna Sittard and their suspended coach Sunday Oliseh at the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) tribunal that the Nigerian was offered ‘black money payment’ at the club, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.
‘Black money payment’ is an illegal payment for a job done in which tax is not paid to the government and it is punishable in the Netherlands.
According to a report on Dutch daily,nos.nl, Fortuna Sittard offered Oliseh, his assistants and players ‘black money payment’ after the game against FC Emmen in January despite the club having the bank accounts of the players and coaches.
The payment was rejected by the former Super Eagles coach.
Fortuna Sittard had on Wednesday expressed satisfaction that they have so far been able to clear the allegation of engaging in illegal activities levelled against the club by Oliseh in a tribunal.
The report on nos.nl also revealed that Oliseh’s claim that criminal activities occurred at the Limburg-based club is currently being investigated by the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD).
The report added that Fortuna Sittard’s Football Director, Mustafa Aztopal, has been working in the Netherlands without a work permit.
“For the KNVB, it is not the resignation of the coach but the alleged criminal activities at Fortuna which is the starting point for research,” an investigating officer of the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) was quoted on the website.
“For the time being, we have only spoken with Oliseh and, for the sake of the arbitration case and the integrity of the investigation unit, we have put the further investigation into the arbitration case for the time being.”
Completesportsnigeria.com also gathered that the owner of the club, Isitan Gun, wanted Oliseh out of the club desperately, as he was well aware that Fortuna would have to pay a huge bonus if they gained promotion to the Eredivisie.
“They wanted to to get players to sign documents against him to ensure he is off their books because they were obsessed about his achievements at the club,” a close source to Oliseh told CSN.
“They knew so well that Oliseh was going to get them promoted and that he won’t accept any form of black money payment and this means that paying him and his coaching crew their promotional bonuses through the right channel means the club will pay more.”
Oliseh was suspended by the club in mid-February and he then accused them of illegal practices and violating the law. He is demanding to be paid the remainder of his contract at the club until 2019, a promotional bonus and compensation for damages.
The former Nigerian international joined Fortuna in December 2016 while they were struggling to avoid relegation but he won them a promotion play-off spot this season before his suspension.
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