Exclusive: EKELE UDOJOH Misses $1 Million Wages In Failed Maritimo Deal

Former Sharks ace Ekele Udojoh has finally broken his silence to allnigeriasoccer.com on his failed move to C.S. Marítimo.

It would be recalled that Udojoh had signed a three - year contract with The Green and Reds two summers ago and was handed the number 31 jersey.  Without playing an official game, the contract of the 22 - year - old attacker was terminated by the Portuguese club

'' I signed for Maritimo in August 2011 and was looking forward to my league debut. The club waited in vain for my past Thai club BEC Tero Sasana F.C. to release my certificate. When it was not forthcoming, Maritimo contacted the Thai club.

''Unknown to me, Marcelo Houseman, the agent that took me to Portugal before the club signed me, told them I was a free agent. BEC Tero Sasana F.C asked Maritimo to pay a transfer fee for my services. They wanted 150,000 euros, but Maritimo offered only 50,000 euros. Both clubs failed to reach an agreement on a transfer fee, so my contract had to be cancelled,'' Udojoh, who is keeping fit training at Patrick Ovie Academy, Lagos, told allnigeriasoccer.com in a telephone conversation.

The ex Chile based player logically regrets the missed opportunity to play in one of the top leagues in Europe. Also, his financial future was all but guaranteed. Maritimo had offered Ekele Udojoh cumulative wages of $1,080,000 (equivalent of =N=165 million)  in his three - year deal. Now, he is hoping to get his career back on track with a club in the Nigeria Premier League.

''Maritimo officials later invited me to the office and told me why the club could not sign me again. There I was presented with an air ticket back to Thailand and given the sum of 2,000 euros. When I got back to Thailand my club had exhausted their foreign quota, there was no way I could be re-absolved. At the end I was left without a club.

''Right now I am training on my own. For now I don't have any offers. My plan is to sign for a club in the local league and use that as a stepping stone to move to Europe in future,'' Udojoh said.

This in not the first time a transfer involving Marcelo Houseman and a Nigerian player is coated with problems. In 2006, Super Eagles player Victor Obinna was banned for four months by Fifa after he signed for two different clubs. He claimed he was wrongly advised by the Argentine agent.

Editor