Tues Bövinghausen will have to do without two of its new winter signings for the rest of the season. Errors in form during the signing process cause problems.
The bad news continues for coach Danny Voß and his TuS Bövinghausen. After the major upheaval in the winter, little has come together in sporting terms so far – and now a technicality means that two players will no longer be available to the club until the end of the season.
The problem concerns the two new winter signings Ebeny Nguimba (SpVgg Schonnebeck) and Oluremi Martins Williams (SG Wattenscheid 09), who are not eligible to play and are therefore no longer allowed to play for TuS this season and have been suspended until the summer.
Coach Voß noticed the mistake personally, although the contracts do not actually fall within his remit. “The only thing that matters to me is: Is the player eligible to play or not? But if I have the feeling that what I have seen is not enough, then I feel responsible as a coach to clarify this,” he explained to Forecasting. “I’ve been around for a while and I just know that it’s difficult. Especially in a situation like this where you bring in so many new players. We had a trial with over 50 players.”
Williams with clearance from Wattenscheid – but not from Düsseldorf
Both players were initially cleared to play, which is why they were called up. Things got complicated in the case of Williams: “He was first cleared by the Westphalian Football Association, then suspended due to my intervention and then cleared again. I then spoke to the Westphalian Football Association again and they agreed with me that a mistake had been made.”
At first glance, everything actually looked correct; Williams’ former club Wattenscheid had given him clearance. However, he was a contracted player there and is now back at amateur level, which is why SGW’s release is irrelevant. Instead, he would need clearance from the club where Williams last played as an amateur: TuRu Düsseldorf. “They were not prepared to give a release. That was the end of the matter,” explained Voß.
No proper deregistration for Nguimba
The situation with Nguimba is somewhat simpler – although the case began in a similarly complicated manner. There, the transferring club, SpVgg Schonnebeck, made a transfer request, but would not have gotten away with it, according to Voß. The coach only found out about the transfer request late, and an inquiry with the association revealed that Schonnebeck only had 14 days to submit the request. “This deadline had expired, so they were no longer entitled to compensation.”
Upon closer examination, however, Voß found that “Ebeny did not properly deregister by December 31, 2023. He did sign a termination agreement and was under the impression that he had also deregistered with it, but that’s not the case.” The back-and-forth about a possible transfer was therefore overdue.
No points deduction – threat of cup exit?
Bövinghausen will now have to reckon with a fine, but will avoid a points deduction – after all, the games in which at least one of the two players played were lost. The situation could be different in the Dortmund district cup. There, TuS prevailed 2:0 against district league side Westfalia Huckarde in the round of 16 – with Williams and Nguimba on the pitch. Whether the club will have to worry about the quarter-final against VfL Kemminghausen, which is scheduled for March 20, remains to be seen.
In any case, the focus is much more on getting back on track in the league and staying in the top flight. The first four games of the year were all lost there – and now two more players are missing. “I’m an optimistic coach. I don’t look back, I look forward and I know that I can rely on the guys who are there. That’s why I’m not worried,” said Voß, looking ahead.
Voß: “We’re on the verge of rewarding ourselves”
The coach emphasized that his team’s performances were nowhere near as bad as a glance at the results would suggest. He only saw a poor first half in the 5-0 defeat in Brünninghausen. “The boys who are now here and eligible to play are keen. We’ve now had two really good weeks of training and I think we’re on the verge of rewarding ourselves accordingly.”
The best way to do that is on Sunday (3 p.m., live in the live streaming ticker), when they travel to the Lohrheide Stadium to face SG Wattenscheid. Voß had his team train on a grass pitch to ensure optimal preparation. “We’re going into the game with a really broad chest and know how important it is,” he announced.