Nigerian International Kelechi Nwakali has come out to reveal that Spanish second tier side SD Huesca unceremoniously fired him and witheld his pay for allegedly participating in the African Cup of Nations AFCON).
According to Kelechi the club terminated his contract after going against the management's order not to participate in the AFCON 2021 games held in Cameroon.
Through a statement shared in his socials on April 6, the 23 year old midfielder noted that in the past few months together with his family they have been undergoing difficult times.
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“It comes with huge regret that I am writing this message after SD Huesca announced the termination of my contract.
I have kept silent out of respect for the Huesca fans and my teammates, but I will no longer suffer in silence. The time has come for people to know the truth and why these past few months have been awful for me and my family,” Kelechi noted.
The Nigerian international was able to get a call up from the Eagles in December 2021, which is every footballer's dream.
“I experienced the biggest honour of my life after I received a full international call up for my beloved Nigeria . But the joy of this moment quickly came crashing down when the club's Sporting Director, Ruben Garcia , put extreme pressure on me not to go to AFCON due to it not being an important tournament. He told me that if I go to AFCON I will not play for Huesca again,” he added.
The Nigerian midfielder however went on to represent his nation at the African tournament noting that being denied a chance to represent his nation was a show of disrespect.
Kelechi noted that after returning from international duty the club's Sporting Director called him to inform him that he should leave the club or go through disciplinary action.
"Ruben Garcia rang me to tell me I had to leave the club after a late offer came in from another La Liga 2 club. He threatened that he would not pay me if I did not leave the club . The option that was given to me was to leave or they would open up disciplinary action.
“Before January 31st, I was never told by the club that they wanted to let me leave in January and this was not a decision that I felt was right for me at the time,” part of the statement read.
In his statement the Nigerian International noted that on February 1, Ruben Garcia and the club's lawyers opened disciplinary proceedings against him leading to his suspension from training and was banned from the training ground.
He noted that after receiving the suspension he sought the help of the Spanish Footballers Union (The AFE) who had been in an ongoing dispute with Huesca.
“After over a month passed, the club allowed me back into the training ground but have been forcing me to train on my own and have not been allowing me to use the facilities,” the youthful player added.
Kelechi in his statement went on to highlight that through that period he has bot received his dues from the club but he chose to be silent.
“Yesterday when I turned up to the training ground , a member of the club tried to force me to sign mutual termination papers which I refused to do. I have a family that depends on me , and no player should have to go through this inhumane treatment,” his statement further read.
Kelechi noted that he does not regret his choice of representing Nigeria insisting that he wants the matter settled quickly so that he could get back to playing football.
He also thanked the fans and his teammates at Huesca who have shown him support in his past three years at the club.
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