The general secretary of Club Sportif Sfaxien received notification today, Monday, February 5, 2024, from the Disciplinary Committee of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), announcing a transfer ban on the team.
This comes after the expiration of the deadline for paying the fine for terminating the contract of Nigerian player Chigozie Namdi Akuneto, who did not participate in any official matches with the team.
The International Sports Arbitration Tribunal (CAS) had previously instructed the southern capital club in December to pay nearly 700,000 dinars within a maximum period of 45 days.
It deemed the termination process as arbitrary, rejecting appeals from the club’s legal committee, which had obtained the player’s signature on a document acknowledging receipt of all his dues.
However, the deadline passed without completing the payment process, leading to the reinstatement of the transfer ban, which was lifted just hours before the end of the last winter transfer window.
The management of Club Sportif Sfaxien had earlier expressed its intention to sue a bank for delaying the transfer of funds in hard currency, resulting in a hefty fine, as confirmed by a member of the interim executive committee, which handed over the reins to the newly elected committee led by Abdelaziz Mekhloufi.
It is worth mentioning that Akuneto is currently playing for an Ethiopian army club.
The imposition of a transfer ban on Club Sportif Sfaxien underscores the ramifications of contractual disputes in football, signaling challenges for the club’s recruitment strategies and potential implications for its performance in upcoming competitions.
