By Nodley Wright, Freelance WriterCLYDE JUREIDINI, the general manager of the Harbour View Football Club, says his organisation will not try to stop national midfielder Keith Kelly from going to rivals Arnett Gardens this season if it is proven that he hasn't got the right to.
"We told Kelly on the weekend we will not stand in his way," Jureidini said yesterday.
Kelly, who used to play for Harbour View, recently concluded a three-year stint in France with Paris Saint Germain.
He returned to the island last week with the intention of representing Arnett Gardens in the Wray and Nephew National Premier League, the island's highest level of football.
However, controversy erupted when it emerged that both clubs had registered him to represent them, necessitating the Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) intervention.
The JFF will decide who has the right to register Kelly before the competition starts on Sunday.
Kelly's agent, Christophe Henrotay, said the situation was clear.
"The situation is very clear. We brought Kelly from Jamaica to Paris Saint Germain in France and the arrangement between Harbour View and PSG was based on results," Henrotay said.
"If he had gotten into the PSG first team, Harbour View would have received payments. And being transferred out of the club they would have received a percentage of that. (As it is) Kelly was released by mutual consent and is a free agent.
Jureidini disagreed.
"Our position is that since he was not signed as a professional within PSG or transferred out in the three-year loan deal, his rights rightfully return to us," he said.
"Common decency dictates that they would have communicated with us. All the parties involved. The agent, PSG and the local clubs who are entered into negotiations with him and the player as well."
However, Henrotay dismissed Jureidini's claim that Kelly had been loaned to the French club and suggested that Harbour View's understanding of the situation was wrong.
"It was not a loan ... I would know ... it is not Keith's problem if PSG had an agreement with Harbour View. He has no contract with any club right now. His move cannot be blocked by Harbour View."
Jureidini said however that while his organisation was not about blocking anybody, principle dictated that a discussion was in order.
"Any player who does not want to play for us, we are not going to hold them against their will ... if it is ruled that he belongs to us then we will explore all possibilities internationally and locally."
In the meantime, Arnett Gardens' president, Patrick Roberts, maintains that his club acted properly.
"To my understanding, what Harbour View had with PSG was a memorandum of understanding. I believe we are in the clear because I have spoken with PSG and the agent and we are satisfied that we did the right thing," he said.
