By Bida Elly David
Easy Travels and Tours Limited has taken the South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) to court over $126,546 unpaid air tickets dues football clubs and SSFA staff.
Th company lawyer, Peter Dau Akolthon revealed No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper in an interview, on Tuesday.
He said the company had previously agreed to a contract with the plaintiff that involved providing air travel services.
However, it appears there have been faults in the implementation of the agreement, prompting the company to file a lawsuit on October 18, 2023
“The court gave them a chance to respond to this, and in their response, they denied some of the facts and accepted some facts,” he noted.
In the court document seen by No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper, Easy Travels, on November 22, 2018, claimed booking tickets for the EL-MERIKH Football Club to Lusaka trip under the bill of the SSFA.
On August 8, 2019, the Football Association booked other tickets from the company for Amarat and Atlabara Football Clubs, respectively.
According to the document, “The current outstanding payments for the South Sudan Football Association are: air tickets issued in favor of football clubs, USD 100,190; air tickets issued in favor of SSFA staff, USD 26,356; general damages for breach of contract for travel services, or any other inconveniencies, USD 20,000.”
Easy Travel Company lawyer, Advocate Dau, said he had written a letter to the SSFA requesting the payment of the money but the football association failed to adhere after pleading for time to make a settlement.
“All went in vain; we tried, but nothing went well since that time in 2023. In such a scenario, when you claim something from someone and he doesn’t want it, the last resort is the court of law, where you pile your case for them to pay,” he said.
Meanwhile, in another document, South Sudan Football Association objected to the plaintiff’s suit to recover the unpaid sums for football clubs and their staff, demanding the provision of proof for the claims.
Th football association also refused to accept claims for booking tickets for EL-MERIKH football club to Lusaka in 2018 as well as Amarat and Atlabara in 2019.
On the air tickets issued for the football clubs, SSFA partially denied, noting that it is crucial that the clubs are responsible for their ticket invoices, which add up to $100,190.
The association only admitted invoices amounting to $26,356 and claimed to have paid $10,000 with the balance of $16,356 remaining.
Easy Travel Company lawyer has now written to the court requesting a freeze of South Sudan Football Association’s bank account until the last court ruling.
“We humbly do here by requesting the honorable court for the attachment of the above-mentioned defendant bank account to this civil suit No. 575/2023 to stop the defendant from withdrawing any money from it until the final determination of the plaintiff case within Section 159(1) of the Civil Procedure Act, 2007,” partly read the letter read addressed to the court.
When contacted by this outlet, SSPFA defense lawyer, promised to call back for more details, but this never materialized by press time.