At the start of the current campaign, all super league teams agreed with the association’s idea of having all contracted players in its membership, but with a month to go before the season ends, nothing tangible has taken shape.

“We are concerned that teams have opted to block their players from registering with us and, as such, we can’t assist players that aren’t our members. We still receive complaints from players on cases like being duped on signing-on fees as well breach of contracts, but we can’t take the matters further because the players are not our member,” Mangani said.

He said it’s clear that, by refusing to register their players with the association, the teams are hindering the players from opportunities such as compensations when they get career-threatening injuries as well as pensions when they retire from active playing.

“For years now, we have observed how badly our players are neglected when they suffer serious injuries and struggle to earn a living when they quit playing, and our efforts of assisting them to secure such opportunities are being frustrated,” Mangani said.

The Football Players Association, which also incorporated former footballers in its fold, was founded four years ago with the intention of fighting against oppression of players as well as assisting players sustain better living standards when playing and even after retiring from the game.