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| ReutersYonhap News |
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia) who won the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE). He showed the power of 'Oil Money' with stars such as Roberto Firmino at the forefront.
However, the administration is still at a pathetic level, unlike this skill. He was embroiled in a lawsuit for not paying the contracted transfer fee on time and was eventually withdrawn. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) appealed to the FIFA disciplinary decision, but the result did not change.
CAS issued a partial citation ruling in a FIFA disciplinary appeal filed by Al Ahli in February. CAS sentenced Jeonbuk Hyundai to pay $26,566 (about KRW 37.02 million) in penalty for Al-Ahli.
The story is like this. Al-Ahli, who was a member of the Saudi second division at the time, expressed his intention to recruit Barlow (currently Incheon United), who was a member of Jeonbuk at the time, in December 2022. Jeonbuk, which was under contract with Barlow until 2023, offered $800,000 (about 1.1 billion won) in transfer fees to Al-Ahli and $200,000 (about 270 million won) in bonuses for promotion to the first division. The transfer fee was paid twice, and interest was added if it was delayed. With Al-Ahli accepting, Barlow left Jeonbuk in January 2023.
Al-Ahli seemed to move on without much trouble as he met the deadline for paying the first installment of the transfer fee. However, there was no news of the second transfer fee payment deadline. Jeonbuk sent an official letter twice to urge Al-Ahli to pay the transfer fee, but did not receive an answer. In the meantime, Al-Ahli succeeded in being promoted to the first division, and a bonus of $200,000 was also needed. Jeonbuk sent another official letter containing this, and Al Ahli sent the remaining transfer fee only then. However, he did not pay the penalty and $200,000 bonus for delayed installment payments. Jeonbuk demanded this again, but Al-Ah-li remained silent again.
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| ◇photo courtesy of the Korea Professional Football Association |
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In the end, Jeonbuk, unable to bear it, chose to file a FIFA complaint in November 2023 and notified it. Only then did Al-Ahli respond. Al-Ahli suggested to Jeonbuk that 'let's agree on $160,000 by combining penalties and bonuses', but Jeonbuk did not accept it. Al-Ahli unilaterally paid $160,000 to Jeonbuk through a club lawyer. Jeonbuk has requested that Al-Ahli be sanctioned in accordance with FIFA regulations.
What the FIFA investigation revealed was shocking. Al-Ahli was found to have been sanctioned by FIFA for eight similar cases between 2022 and 2023. The FIFA arbitration committee ruled that Al-Ahli had defaulted on his debt without clear grounds and was habitually triggering the situation, paying a total of $49,172 (about 68.61 million won) including the remaining amount of bonuses and penalties to be paid to Jeonbuk and paying a fine of $100,000 to FIFA. Al-Ahli appealed to CAS, claiming that `Jeonbuk's penalty rule was unfair and FIFA calculated the penalty wrong.' CAS accepted some of Al-Ahli's claims, but rejected other requests for relief, ruling that Jeonbuk pay a penalty, specifying Al-Ahli's breach of contract.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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The Saudi league has recently swept European stars with astronomical transfer fees. Royal owners' huge spending is the basis for this move. However, if it is worth forgetting, news of delayed transfer fees and player salaries is being reported. Although he is on a roll with the help of 'Oil Money', it is expected that it will take a long time for him to be treated according to his skills.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
