The saga relating to Rafael Leao and more specifically the fine that is owed after he left Sporting CP is far from over, according to a report.
Portuguese newspaper A Bola (via MilanNews) have confirmed the news that emerged in recent days regarding Lille’s obligation to pay in full the €20m compensation to Sporting CP after the unilateral termination of Leao’s contract back in 2019.
According to the Lusitanian source, the last word on the matter is far from being written because both Sporting and Lille have written to FIFA and both clubs have the idea of appealing the current sentence.
Lille want to avoid paying that amount, while Sporting are aiming to claim €45m instead of €20m. The reason for this is that there was a release clause present in Leao’s deal at the time it was terminated stipulating that the Lisbon club would be owed €45m. Therefore, the renewal could get more complicated.
It is till nonsense
Leao as a player should press charges against Sporting because in that time happened something that violated players peace and put them in dangerous position. And to be free from penalty. Or if leao still must pay something he needs forget that options by Milan involved…
What nonsense? This is all contract law 101. I think all of these arguments were made in the original case, i.e., that’s what Leao’s legal team argued so as to not have any liability at all. The courts came up with the 20m in damages, so obviously they found that there was some breach of contract. Then there was an assignment of that liability, i.e., how much each party (Leao and Lille) have to pay Sporting. The appeal by Sporting is an attempt to increase the damages based on the findings of breach, using the release clause as a valuation. Lillle is no doubt arguing (and argued before) that it had nothing to do with Leao’s decision to breach, and thus should not be liable for anything. Which is bad news since if the finding of breach is upheld, but Lille’s liability is overturned, it can only mean that Leao is on the hook for 100% of the damages. Then, the damages might increase from 20m to 45m. SO, Leao might end up owing 45m, not 20.
Great non emotional comment.
Most of our fans will react emotionally and blame Sporting even though Leao, his parents, his agent and Lille are actually at fault here and Sporting is just asking for what they are owed.
Leao wasn’t hurt in the incident, scared, yes, but not physically hurt.
No club in the world, be that Sporting or Milan has enough security to stop 1000 or 2000 angry fans from entering the training facility.
And as you said the courts have already decided who is at fault here, the only issue is who is going to pay and how much between Leao and Lille.
What baffles me in all of this is why the agent is not on the hook for that? I mean he is in charge of handling the player’s contract, and he takes a handsome compensation for that. He is also the one who probably orchestrated this whole move. So when things go south under his supervision, why is there no liability on his part?
Is he getting paid so much solely for the advisory role?
GREAT question. IMHO the entire operation of agents in football needs to be looked at and regulated.
1) Agents should be professional enough to know what is legal and what isn’t. The fault is 100% on Mendes (Leao’s agent at the time).
2) Sporting’s clause and claim for 45M€ is ridiculous. Barcelona always puts something like 1Bn€ clauses on their players but that doesn’t make the worth the sum. Leao’s true market value wasn’t 45M€ at the time when he left Sporting so no one should (and never will) pay such sums.
3) The courts have already ruled it (correctly). Lille & Leao should both be responsible for the shady business and the ~20M€ seems like a reasonable sum.
If you ask me, I think it’s Leao’s agent who is to blame here and should be the one paying but no court would ever make such decisions.
#2 is a good two-part point. First, that the valuation of Leao THEN is equivalent to the buyout is with the benefit of hindsight, i.e., they see what he is now, and they are applying his performances today to his value retrospectively; and secondly that people don’t understand what release clauses are about. Release clauses aren’t a player’s value, they are the absolute “offer you can’t refuse”. Much like a house has a market value of approximately X, give or take a little, and that’s what it would be if you go to market if you decided to sell, but someone can just roll up and offer 10 times that if they have the money and they’re dumb enough to do it, and you’re not going to say no even if you weren’t looking to sell your house.
The agent is not an individual party to any deal, the agent only acts on behalf of the player.
His contract is with the player to act as his intermediary.
Even though this complicates Leao renewal with Milan, I am glad sporting are standing firm. You can’t just break a contract on your own and sign with a club on a free transfer and that same club makes 30+ mil by selling you a year later.
Every player that was at sporting when the fan incident happened got their issue with sporting resolved, except Lille and Leao.
Lille, Mendes and Leao need to come up with the money and pay sporting.
Very complicated if lille refused to pay sporting 20m euro and sporting asking 45m euro . It will affect leao renewal,Mendez his agent push for free transfer to pay sporting .AC Milan dont have choice but to pay that sporting 20m euro or sell leao in summer
I think this has basically been the issue holding the renewal up. They aren’t far apart on base wage, so it has to be this. Lesson for the club: don’t sign players who’s prior ownership is legally in question. It’s probably why the EU does not allow “third-party ownership” of players, as is common in South America, and maybe elsewhere. No shenanigans.
Sporting can go to HELL with all this goddamned chicanery. But it won’t succeed.
Their claim won’t stand anywhere. Just because a team puts a “made-up” figure as the release clause doesn’t make the player actually worth that much. Just look at Barca and their “1 Bn€” players. As if anyone would pay those sums.*
IMO, the courts have already made the right calls and those should be made permanent ASAP.
I don’t see anything wrong in Leao leaving sporting after the heavy incident with Sporting fans. It is a reasonable thing to do. Leao is not at fault here. Players should not risk their lives because of contracts. The club (Sporting) is at the biggest fault for not containing their own fans who endangered the lives of their players. Yes, Sporting is to blame because they gain financial benefit from their fans when they purchase tickets to support the team, but when the fans do crazy thing – then the Sporting says ‘it is not our fault’??? That can’t work like that. Yet, no one is blaming Sporting for that. Leao and Lille should file a counter-appeal and sue Sporting for transfering the guilt and blame Lille and Leao for what happend. It is clear that Leao would have never breached the contract if such a violent thing did not happen. So the first guilty and most responsible is Sporting. Leao just wanted to play in a safe environment – you can’t blame him for that. And Lille offerd him a safe environment.