Tanzanian champions Young Africans Sports Club have been slapped with a FIFA transfer ban over their unpaid settlements of former head coach Luc Eymael.
Eymael was fired by Yanga in July 2020 after allegedly making racial slurs about the club’s supporters after an incident that flared up after his wife was said to have been sexually harassed.
The Belgian coach took the matter to FIFA, and the case went in his favour for unfair dismissal after the club could not prove the alleged racial attack took place and they were ordered to pay him the full amount of $148,000 (R2.7 million) by 30 August 2022.
The club then allegedly contacted Eymael to accept the payment in instalments, despite the FIFA order stating it needed to be an immediate lump sum.
Eymael is said to have accepted the deal in good faith as he looked to ease the situation and was not having to fork out the full amount.
“I told him the proposal was dangerous, maybe he liked the club and accepted to receive it in a few instalments, so he signed the settlement agreement,” his lawyer Semeria Antoine tells iDiski Times.
The first payment was on 31 October 2022 for $20,000 and after that, it was scheduled for each month on the 30th with an agreement of $33,000 until the 28th of February.
“The club paid with many delays, only the first two instalments, the first came on the 16th of November and the second one at the end of December when the deadline was 30 November,” he added.
“The third one was not initially paid but eventually came just before I referred the case to FIFA and after that, they stopped all payments. So 3 February, I referred the case and they still have $99,000 unpaid with a $5,000 penalty for the delay.”
On 7 March the case was officially referred to FIFA to certify that the club didn’t respect the settlement agreement and to condemn the club to pay the full amount plus the penalty.
FIFA then sent the decision condemning the club to pay Mr Luc Eymael the sum of $66,000 with a $5,000 penalty with a 45-day deadline to pay since the notification.
“They didn’t pay, so I wrote to FIFA [again] on 19 June 2023, in order to ask to certify the club didn’t pay during this period of 45 days and to order the ban of registration during the windows,” he confirmed.
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“After that I received something, to confirm that FIFA communicated with the Tanzanian Football Federation (TFF) to inform all parties that Young Africans didn’t comply with the financial obligations in accordance with the decision of FIFA and in this regard, they informed the party of registering new players, internationally has been implemented and the TFF have to watch if the club breaks this ban.”
Yanga will now need to pay him in full or the ban will remain in effect and this website understands the club has made no official communication with Eymael’s lawyer and FIFA since the ruling was passed down on Sunday morning.
