FIFA, the Federation of International Football Association, has issued a directive to El Zamalek, an Egyptian Premier League club, ordering them to pay former player Benjamin Acheampong €180,000 in outstanding salaries.
The ruling from FIFA’s Football Tribunal also stipulates that the club must pay 5% interest on the unpaid salaries owed to Benjamin Acheampong, as they failed to comply with the initial ruling in December 2020.
Furthermore, the Tribunal awarded an additional €90,000 to the player, although some of his other claims were rejected.
In December 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had ruled that the five-time African champions were obligated to pay $1.1 million to the 32-year-old player after determining that he was coerced into terminating his contract with the club.
The CAS judgment emphasized that the club would face a transfer ban if they failed to fulfill the terms of the ruling.
Benjamin Acheampong joined Zamalek in September 2017 from El Dakhleya SC but terminated his contract after 11 months.
CAS concluded that the Ghanaian player had “no other option but to terminate” his Zamalek contract, citing reasons such as inadequate payment, exclusion from training, and exclusion from the squad.
The ruling also imposed a fine of USD 10,000 on the club and required full payment, including all applicable interest, to be made to the designated bank account.
According to Article 24 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, if full payment is not made within 45 days of notification, the club will be banned from registering new players nationally and internationally for up to three consecutive registration periods.
If the full payment is still not made by the end of the three consecutive registration periods, the matter will be referred to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
The imposed consequences will only be enforced upon the request of the claimant, in accordance with the relevant articles of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
The decision was made without any costs.
