https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/football/leeds-united/leeds-united-lose-jean-kevin-augustin-battle-but-legal-dispute-may-not-be-over-yet-3265968
Always believed Leeds acted poorly on this one. Contracts are contracts and they should have honored the deal. It was not Leipzigs fault that our scouting of the player was inept nor that the player arrived unfit (still unfit at his current club Nantes). We made the decision to sign the contract. We were promoted and by rights should have paid the £18M.
Had we done that we would have spent £18M and JKA would be our player.
In the event of Leipzig winning this case then the precedent is already set with the Ricky Alvarez case between Inter and Sunderland. Sunderland were made to pay the full transfer fee but it didnt end there.
They also had to pay interest on the fee, millions on legal fees and then the player sued for loss of earnings. By the time the case closed the player played for Sampdoria and never moved to Sunderland. Its a huge reason why they are sat in League One right now.
I wonder who was behind the decision not to pay the fee. It looks like a very costly error indeed and could cost us essential team strengthening this close season. We could be looking at a £30m loss here.
Leipzig 1 Leeds 0
posted on 9/6/21
Comment Deleted by Article Creator
posted on 9/6/21
The law should win an appeal here.
However, look even at the Emiliano Sala case. 2 1/2 years on and as far as I’m aware, still no final decision by CAS.
FIFA should use common sense itself more often and try to make rulings based on compromise.
posted on 9/6/21
Sorry, but I don't buy into the "let's man up and pay up because we acted dishonourably" argument.
Fat Kev was engaged to help us win promotion. He didn't because he was too fat and did not respond to the demands Bielsa made of him. I also detect the famous French "phack you" attitude in play on his part personally - he's not played at Nantes either. Austin, RB Leipzig, and their lawyers are treating us like a cash cow on this one.
Yes, we made a mistake in signing him and yes, we should pay for it but not the full amount because he only put in 50 minutes over the entire period he was at ER - because he was unfit. The argument that the terms of the contract were not satisfied by the player is sound, in my view.
The parties should be encouraged by FIFA to come to some sensible agreement and Leipzig should share in the "loss" in his (falsely inflated) value.
We must and will appeal - we can only hope that the lawyers earn their (falsely inflated) fee for once. We should also sue the player and his agent.
posted on 9/6/21
if the contract stipulated a date then that is what you go on.
If we were not promoted by that date then tough.
Should clubs be allowed to sue players who didnt play after their contracts had finished last year even though the season wasnt done?
same princible
posted on 9/6/21
Using a pandemic that’s killed closing in on 4 million people to get away with paying a transfer fee I find quite disturbing.
posted on 9/6/21
So JKA is now at Nantes, both Leipzig and ourselves gave written permission and relinquished any claim to his registration.
How can either team give written permission in these circumstances?
posted on 9/6/21
Reported that we had to take Harrison on loan this past season, because the clause to take him permanently had expired due to the extended season. The new clause is about 3 million more, so this technicality is already costing us money. More than happy for the club to use it to get out of paying for Augustin.
posted on 9/6/21
If it wasn't for the pandemic than we would have had to sign him, so, there must have been something put in place and both parties must have agreed for him to play the extended season!..
He was injured training for the remaining games, as for his fitness, the coaching staff and Bielsa said he'd done great and was to be included in the run in!..
Don't understand why people think Leeds are in the right for wanting to use him and than throwing him on the scrapheap because of injury, things must have been agreed or he would have been releast on the runout date!..
posted on 9/6/21
comment by Lorralorimer (U18994)
posted 9 hours, 27 minutes ago
comment by LeedsFanFor46Years - Prem4harj (U6871)
posted 28 minutes ago
Odd that they should come to the conclusion they have. There was a similar situation with Messi who had been told he could leave on a free by the end of the season, but the season ended later and they said the clause had expired:
https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/messi-cannot-leave-former-barcelona-president-says-star-cant-opt-/1kqjux0azcr4y1ag0m3o0iq0fv
I'm sure that I read somewhere back when it happened that the contract with Augustin was specified by date not by end of season and so Leeds should have been in the right.
Hope the appeal goes our way, but we seem to always end up with the mucky end of the stick.
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Mucky end of the stick? What are you talking about - we behaved disgracefully and arrogantly and we should not be allowed to treat players like JKA with such contempt. There is only one just verdict. Let’s man up and take the punishment we deserve.
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Self-flagellation isn't a great position.
Rightly or wrongly, we're not looking at the moral of this particular story - this is a legal, contractual wrangle.
I was saying that if the contract has a firm date associated with us attaining promotion and that date passed, then there's no way the decision should not have gone our way. A contract is a contract, but fundamentally is dependent on the precise wording, not only the 'spirit' of it.
As LufcGermany says, if it wasn't for the pandemic then we would have had to sign him.
The onus was on Leipzig to have provision in the contract to cover a delayed season end. For example, they could have had a clause stating "promotion by 30th May or the end of the season whichever is later".
I don't agree that Leeds "used him and threw him on the scrapheap" though -- I think he threw himself on the scrapheap. Whatever was quoted from the coaching staff, he clearly didn't get down to the weight Bielsa required and hasn't exactly set the footballing world on fire with his subsequent move.
Leipzig gave him away - not something you do if you have a valuable asset.
posted on 9/6/21
"Leipzig gave him away - not something you do if you have a valuable asset."
I would say €21m isn't exactly a give away!..
And it takes 2 to agree a fee!..
I'm hoping Leeds don't lose on this, but wouldn't be surprised if they do, my problem is for the player and the crap he's been dragged through!..