Munawarali Najafi has described Mohamedali “Monty” Karim’s [pictured above] decision to drive to Gor Mahia on transfer deadline day as “total lunacy” and said the Gymkhana forward was never granted permission to speak to Gor Mahia.
The striker arrived at the Gor Mahia training ground on deadline day, but Gymkhana stated no fee had been agreed and he was not free to discuss personal terms.
Gymkhana gaffer Munawarali Najafi said: “Monty has acted wholly unprofessionally.”
Gor Mahia say Karim did not enter club premises and boss Jabir Alidina put the situation down to a “mistake”.
“It was unfortunate really. Wires got crossed somewhere,” Alidina told ZanzibarFC.com.
“We were trying to sign him and the lad thought a fee had been agreed between the two clubs. It hadn’t – there was still some haggling going on. ”
“He’s a good lad – it was just a mistake.”
Gymkhana admitted that talks about a possible move had continued on deadline day, but had “proven fruitless and no agreement has been reached”.
Karim was the target of an unsuccessful bid last week and had put in a transfer request.
Najafi said: “This evening’s developments have brought a conclusion to what has been an unsavoury affair.”
“The only way we would have considered letting Monty leave was if an acceptable offer was forthcoming and if we had found a suitable replacement at relatively short notice.”
“Neither materialised and, in the end, the matter became a point of principle as much as anything.”
Najafi added: “He must now accept the fact he remains under contract until the end of the season and has to focus on his Gymkhana commitments.”
Karim had appeared optimistic that a deal could be reached when he was interviewed on his arrival at Gor Mahia’s training ground.
“I hope they (Gymkhana) will be happy with what they get and, of course, they want to get in players themselves. I just hope that everything will be sorted out in the next few hours,” Karim told ZanzibarFC.com at the time.
The striker had previously been quoted as saying that he had reached an informal agreement with Gymkhana on his departure, only to find that the situation had changed when he was en route to Gor Mahia.
“I am disappointed this is all happening. I met with Munawarali Nafaji this morning and we shook hands that I could leave with his blessing” the striker was reported to have said.
Alidina said earlier in the day that Karim was still a player he would like to bring into his squad.
“He’s got skill, I really like him and I think he could help us” he told the the club’s official website.
But Gymkhana’s determination to retain the player appears to have won out.
Karim tweeted on Sunday night: “Looked through my tweets. Deleted some. Was too much. Only excuses – home alone, dark, frustrated.”
His deleted tweets included: ” I should have handed in transfer request earlier. Was one foot in Manama FC – not for sale. Sofapaka. Not for sale. Mozambique. Not for sale. FC Dynano. Not for sale.”
Zanzibar FC 
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