General Football 23/24

[Leyton388]

It's probably a little more complicated than that. Sounds like they definitely owe Nantes a fee, but maybe not the amount if any of it was conditional, eg appearances based. And it sounds as though they are trying to find out if the agent made fraudulent representations during the negotiations (there are leaked emails that suggest this may have happened), and they might want to use that to pay the agent less, or hold him responsible for an element of the transfer fee if he did. No business would blindly part with millions of pounds without considering these things.

Whilst I agree with the above from a legal perspective if the contracts were signed and Cardiff agreed to pay £14m they are liable for it regardless of the details of the deal.

[EwarWoo]

It's probably a little more complicated than that. Sounds like they definitely owe Nantes a fee, but maybe not the amount if any of it was conditional, eg appearances based. And it sounds as though they are trying to find out if the agent made fraudulent representations during the negotiations (there are leaked emails that suggest this may have happened), and they might want to use that to pay the agent less, or hold him responsible for an element of the transfer fee if he did. No business would blindly part with millions of pounds without considering these things.

Which is all fair enough, but doing it in front of the press is disgusting.

[Kenneth]

Whilst I agree with the above from a legal perspective if the contracts were signed and Cardiff agreed to pay £14m they are liable for it regardless of the details of the deal.

Not if they can show that the agent made false representations, ie told them £10m was too low because X had offered £12m when that wasn't true. We don't know the governing law so don't know whether Nantes are guaranteed to get the full amount, but even if they are, some of that may end up being the liability of the agent. It's largely speculation, but Cardiff's reaction suggests they think the a above may have happened. And they probably won't feel as though they should simply accept being defrauded so that they don't look insensitive.

[Kenneth]

Which is all fair enough, but doing it in front of the press is disgusting.

You could well be right . With Nantes demanding immediate payment publicly, and with the profile of the situation, I don't know how much could be kept away from the public eye. I don't know.

[Chris]

With Nantes demanding immediate payment publicly.

They did? The Nantes demanding payment story was released by BBC........Wales.

[RichC]

Not if they can show that the agent made false representations, ie told them £10m was too low because X had offered £12m when that wasn't true. We don't know the governing law so don't know whether Nantes are guaranteed to get the full amount, but even if they are, some of that may end up being the liability of the agent. It's largely speculation, but Cardiff's reaction suggests they think the a above may have happened. And they probably won't feel as though they should simply accept being defrauded so that they don't look insensitive.

A contract was signed however were any of the clauses breached and if so what does that do to the transfer fee and liability for it and also the contract Sala had for 3 years with Cardiff who is liable for paying this.

Whilst it seems distasteful I would imagine most clubs would be ensuring that before they paid up they were liable for the fees. I include our club in this as well

[ChesterDave]

Did the contract have a clause in that Nantes were responsible for the safe transit of the player to Cardiff? If yes did the contract have a clause that they were responsible for his second flight to Cardiff given he had already gone once and returned to say goodbyes.

If neither of those are a yes then they haven't got a leg to stand on and the competence /qualified status of the pilot is irrelevant to the contract and something they have to seek damages for through other legal channels. Although it will be fascinating to see them argue in court of the negligence of others when the did not insist on organising the transport of their new, expensive asset themselves. A rather lax attitude you could say.

If it drags on long enough I can see FIFA/CAS ordering the Premier League to withhold prize money at the end of the season. Obviously any appearance or performance related add ons will never be paid but Cardiff are ponying up the mandatory transfer fee whether they like it or not.

[EwarWoo]

They did? The Nantes demanding payment story was released by BBC........Wales.

Based on an interview with the Cardiff chairman

[Exiled_red]

I would assume that they have to pay the agreed fee but presumably won't have to play any of the add ons.

I wouldn't be surprised if the agents were saying that there were more interest in him than there really was (as I imagine that this goes on all the time) but they agreed to pay the fee, so they need to pay it. If they want to take the agent to court for misrepresentation or something that is a completely different and should be sorted out seperately.

[RoadEnd]

It was reported that Bordeaux had a sell on clause when they sold Sala to Nantes of up to 50% of a future sale. After the agents have taken their cut, not sure how much Nantes would actually pocket.

[RichC]

Did the contract have a clause in that Nantes were responsible for the safe transit of the player to Cardiff? If yes did the contract have a clause that they were responsible for his second flight to Cardiff given he had already gone once and returned to say goodbyes.

If neither of those are a yes then they haven't got a leg to stand on and the competence /qualified status of the pilot is irrelevant to the contract and something they have to seek damages for through other legal channels. Although it will be fascinating to see them argue in court of the negligence of others when the did not insist on organising the transport of their new, expensive asset themselves. A rather lax attitude you could say.

If it drags on long enough I can see FIFA/CAS ordering the Premier League to withhold prize money at the end of the season. Obviously any appearance or performance related add ons will never be paid but Cardiff are ponying up the mandatory transfer fee whether they like it or not.

Allegedly Sala refused a flight organised by Cardiff which could be one of the reasons as to why they’re looking into this. I’d say though that any legal representation about if there’s a leg to stand on or not would be decided by actual legally qualified individuals who have access to said contract.

Assumption with FIFA/CAS that it will in fact be Cardiff in the wrong here. I’d imagine the transfer fee will be taken care one way or another by one of the entities involved Insurance.

An interesting case I guess but for pretty depressing reasons.

[topscorer]

Allegedly Sala refused a flight organised by Cardiff which could be one of the reasons as to why they’re looking into this. I’d say though that any legal representation about if there’s a leg to stand on or not would be decided by actual legally qualified individuals who have access to said contract.



Assumption with FIFA/CAS that it will in fact be Cardiff in the wrong here. I’d imagine the transfer fee will be taken care one way or another by one of the entities involved Insurance.



An interesting case I guess but for pretty depressing reasons.

The reason Cardiff is looking at this is because their insurance coverage isn't sufficient to cover the costs so it's them who will be out of pocket.

I've read that with transfer fee and all other related costs it adds up to around £30m and they only have insurance for £15m.

If it was a case of which insurance company pays that would be going on in the background and we'd know nothing about it.

[baitman]

Cardiff will be having to pay twice, once to nantes for signing sala and again to pay up the remaining contract to his family.

[RichC]

As it stands of course Cardiff are going to be out of pocket, they need to cover both the transfer fee and the Sala contract.

We know about Nantes wanting their money and Cardiff looking into contract and of theres been any clauses that haven’t been met or breached leads to essentially who picks up the bill which comes back to insurance I would think and yeah obviously it’s all the background but that would always be the case

[RichC]

Cardiff will be having to pay twice, once to nantes for signing sala and again to pay up the remaining contract to his family.

Yup, transfer fee and the 3 year contract will need to be paid up