Four Heartland players are close to the exit doors after the Owerri club served them a month notice of termination of contracts on Sunday.

The club, which is citing poor performances on the part of the players, has refused to reveal the identity of the affected men in order “to protect their careers”.

The club has also warned the rest of the players of an impending review of their terms of contract, especially salaries, following a poor run of the team in the current season.

The notice of termination, which was signed by the club’s general coordinator, Oscar Keke, stated that the affected players failed to improve their games despite repeated opportunities given to them to do so by the technical crew.

The situation had compelled the club to employ other players to perform the same duties for which the four players were contracted, the club said.

“Accordingly, we are compelled to invoke Article 18.2 of your contract of employment and hereby give you notice that your contract will be terminated one month from the date of this memo,” the letter read.

Heartland spokesman Cajetan Nkwopara, who confirmed the development, added that the management had directed the technical crew to quickly conduct a performance evaluation on the remaining players and provide it with the result for further action.

“We can’t reveal the identity of the players now because we feel it can affect their careers. The club is taking this decision in order to improve our performance. We can’t continue to put up with poor performance,” Cajetan told our correspondent on the telephone on Monday.

“The evaluation will guide the club in the review of the players’ salaries. The impressive one will have their salaries upgraded, while any player found wanting will have his salary reviewed downward.”