Foul play when hiring football players
Clubs like Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona have been accused of carrying out questionable procedures to sign players
In the season of transfering players, some European clubs can get to make inappropriate moves to get them. This 2018 has not been the exception, because several teams have accused controversial tactics by others when hiring players. LatinAmerican Post shows you, what are these clubs getting accused of and how did they do it?
Leer en español. Juego sucio en la contratación de futbolistas
Atlético de Madrid opportunist with Portuguese at low cost
Gelson Martins, a 23-year-old Portuguese player, excelled last season due to his great level playing for Sporting Lisbon, thus he was projected to be signed by a big club at a considerable price. However, the player, perhaps to facilitate his signing for another team and reduce costs, canceled his contract with the Portuguese team after the club suffered an attack last May by a group of enraged fans. "Gelson had ended his link with Sporting in June, as well as several players, after being attacked by the fans. But the Portuguese institution went to FIFA alleging that, Martins in particular, had not suffered," says sports daily Olé.
With this, the Sporting Lisbon initiated legal action for compensation. "Given the unacceptable behavior of Club Atlético de Madrid in the process concerning the athlete Gelson Batalha Martins, which we repudiate, the Board of Directors of the Sporting Club of Portugal Futebol SAD deliberated, unanimously, present a participation in FIFA with request for compensation to the athlete and the club, and request for sporting sanctions to both," said Sporting Lisbon in an official statement on its website.
Neither FIFA nor Atlético de Madrid have issued a statement on the matter, but according to the European press, Sporting Lisbon would be asking for compensation between 60 and 100 million euros. Gelson Martins and Atlético de Madrid are not the first to be denounced by the Portuguese club, as Rui Patricio and Wolverhampton of England were also sued for the same situation.
Barcelona and a Brazilian committed to an Italian club
The Catalan club hired the Brazilian Malcom Filipe Silva de Oliveira, from the Girondins de Bordeaux in France. However, the signing ended with great controversy, as Malcom had a pre-agreement with AS Roma of Italy, as reported by the French club and the Italian club on their social networks.
A.S Roma had reached an agreement with the Girondins de Bordeaux for the Brazilian Malcom, however, the Barcelona interfered in the operation offering a better contract. The Italian club did not want to enter an auction and assumed that Barcelona had stolen the signing of Malcom, creating great discomfort, which could initiate legal action. "Now, inside the club, we are looking at our options, seeing if it is legal. It is true that nothing was signed, but there are many messages with the agents and their president that is at least worth evaluating," affirmed the sports director of the AS Roma, Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, better known as `Monchi', in Roma TV .
Monchi: "What happened with Malcom is easy to explain, but difficult to understand, we started negotiating with the Bordeaux and the player through his agent, and yesterday we had total agreement, with the team and with the player." pic.twitter.com/nDBpqplDbG
– AS Roma Español (@ASRomaEspanol) July 25, 2018
The controversy and accusations of deception on the part of Barcelona are enormous, but from the Catalan club there is tranquility for their ways of contracting. "We are calm, as the president (Bartomeu) has said, he is a player that we have been following since 2014. I can understand that Roma could feel bad, but this is part of the negotiations ", justified Barcelona's sports vice president, Jordi Mestre, in statements collected by Mundo Deportivo. It is not the first time that Barcelona is involved in controversial signings, as the French Ousmane Dembélé was also signed with strange forms.
The defiance of Dembélé to sign with Barcelona
The young French winger caused a strong dispute in mid-2017 between Borussia Dortmund of Germany and the FC. Barcelona of Spain, because the player declared in absentia with the German club to be able to sign for the Blaugranas. Barcelona was accused of allegedly encouraging the player to rebel, generating a deep discomfort at Borussia Dortmund.
"He did not even pick up his boots to take them away, it's ridiculous. That way you do not leave a club. This is soccer, not tennis. It is understandable that you think about it when a club like Barcelona wants you, but what you do is try to find a solution that works for all parties involved. (…) But instead of being grateful, he leaves, staying at home, declaring himself on strike and leaving his companions in droves. It is purely and simply a lack of style, is not having manners," said Roman Widenfeller, Borussia Dortmund player for 17 years, in statements granted to ESPN and collected by the newspaper AS. The disloyalty is in furor within some European clubs to be able to reinforce its staff, something unethical in the world of the sport.
LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana
Copy Edited by Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz
