Immediate former Sofapaka centre back Michael Kibwage has earmarked January next year as the earliest possible time to return to competitive football.The defender last played football at the competitive stage in June last year before a contractual row between him and the 2009 league champions muscled him out.Kibwage reportedly downed his tools and demanded to be released after failing to get his salary on time but Sofapaka elected to hold on the player up to the final day of his two-year long contract.##NAJAVA_MECA_6697969##Sofapaka who broke the bank to sign the highly-rated defender from KCB had set out outrageous demands to the player for him to secure his release letter.The club’s president Elly Kalekwa is on record stating that they will let him go should he unreservedly apologize as well as return a certain amount of the sign on fees.The sour marriage, ended early this week following the expiry of the contract and consequently, the player who had earlier on tried to free himself through the courts is at liberty to take employment elsewhere.Kasiyre keen on pumping in more than ten goals in maiden season with SofapakaHowever, with the transfer window already shut the former AFC Leopards man says he will patiently wait for January where he hopes he will attract lucrative deals“I have been tolerant enough and will continue to exercise until January. I will continue to train and keep the focus and believe that I have been holding on from the time I was muscled out of competitive football,” he said.When pressed to share on how he managed to grapple with the reality of being locked out of action despite being dully fit, the former national U20 skipper conceded that it was tough but managed to pull through courtesy of the support from his inner circle.“It has been difficult for me but the good thing is I approached the situation with sobriety. The support from my family and close friends also came in handy. Obviously, it was frustrating for me to train daily and fail to compete,” he opened up.Every cloud has a silver lining and for Kibwage the last sixteen months have been full of lessons that he says will help him make informed decisions in future.Kibwage longing for FKF PL return after more than a season in the coldHe says the biggest take home from the debacle was the need to thoroughly study and fully understand the terms and clauses embedded in a contract before putting pen to paper.“Each situation presents an opportunity for one to learn. I picked a basketful of lessons from my case which will help me make the right decision and choices in future. One of the best lessons the entire script taught me is to carefully scrutinize the terms of a contract and picking the best. I don’t regret of the past and its bygones at all,” he added
