I was sacked by Huesca for participating at AFCON’ — Nwakali

Super Eagles midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali has finally broken his silence after FC Huesca of Spain terminated his contract, six months before expiration.

The La Liga 2 side announced it has cut ties with the Nigerian midfielder on Tuesday, without giving any reason behind the decision.

However,  reacting in a thread via his Twitter page on Wednesday, Nwakali claimed he was targeted by Ruben Garcia, the club’s sporting director, because he honoured Nigeria’s invitation to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon.

The former Nigeria U17 captain also accused the sporting director of describing the continental cup as “not being an important tournament” while threatening that “if I go to AFCON I will not play for Huesca again.”

The 23-year-old former Arsenal player alleged that Huesca withheld his wages in order to force him into penning another contract for the club.

He wrote, “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.

In Dec 2021, 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. This behaviour and the lack of respect shown to my country Nigeria was truly heart-breaking and it was just the latest example of the club attempting to bully me into getting their own way.

“For months the club has been abusing its power to bully me into signing a new contract. These tactics have included paying me late on numerous occasions. The breakdown in negotiations came when my mother fell ill and I asked Ruben for the wages the club already owed me in order to pay for my Mother’s hospital bill and treatment. Ruben Garcia responded to my request by saying ‘Sign this new contract and we will pay you what’s owed tonight!

“But despite these actions, I was not going to allow the club to stop me from representing my country at one of the biggest international tournaments in the world and I was honoured to join my teammates in Cameroon.”

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