Kevin Nelson gets South Melbourne shaft.
By: Flex Mohammed.[/size]
While playing for his Australian first division club team "South Melbourne" T&T striker Kevin Nelson wound up getting the wrong end of the stick and is now trying to get his career back on track.
The Tobago born Canadian based striker got injured and was then forced out of contract from his employers. He said "I was wrongfully released from my contract in Australia, on the 9th of July 2006 I got injured playing in a game for South Melbourne, then two days after which was the 11th of July I was asked to attend a meeting with the management who in turn informed me that the club is not doing to well financially and wont be able to pay me for the rest of the season so they are releasing me of my contract which I have sign
for one year, and they said they are not paying me out the remainder of my contract either"
He also said: "It was not because of my playing performance or anything because I was scoring goals. My agent took it up with Football Federation Australia (FFA) and Immigration Australia (IA) which informed the club that they cannot do that and instructed them to pay me out or reinstate me, furthermore FFA also banned the club in the future of brining in International Visa players into the country. South Melbourne however, did not reply to the request made by Football Federation Australia, so my agent took it to the Football Union Australia (FUA) which took the matter to FIFA and now I have to wait and see, if my case is taking to long and dragging forever I may asked for help from Mr. Jack Warner to see if he can help me in anyway as far as my case goes, said Nelson.
The saddened striker, who is six weeks into his current injury, said the case is still in progress and I am 100% confident that I'll win it and hopefully get the remainder of my money along with South Melbourne picking up the tab for the medical bills for the duration of my injury that I sustained while playing for them. The matter is expected to take some time for FIFA hearing the case and acting on it."
Nelson is eager to get back on the field and personally felt that he needed 2 to 3 more weeks to make a full recovery. "Presently I am in Canada, FIFA said that it will be ok even though I am not physically in Australia, also, the club has stopped paying for my accommodations and doesn't want to pay for my medical bills which we will claim when FIFA rule.
All was not bad for Nelson though as he was granted his Canadian Citizenship. He mentioned "I was just granted my Canadian permanent residence card and this was one of the reasons I had to come into Canada, so I am now a residence of Canada smiled Nelson. As soon as am fully fit I will probably head to my beloved Trinidad & Tobago to play and see if I can get a call-up with the T&T national team, then head over-seas once more where I have connections to continue with my career. After my "gig" in Australia I was offered a contract to play in Poland, but due to my injury I was unable to attend.
"I am still working hard on my rehab and physical body to be ready again. And holding great faith and belief. The only reason why South Melbourne released me was because due to my injury as I wasn't able to play for the rest of the season, sitting there taking a huge salary not working for them, but as you know with professional football players get injured, long term/short term injury happens, that's life and they need to understandand respect that, ended Nelson."
