Navia: Unlikely Emelec pushed Neris to break his contract | OneFootball

The sports law specialist lawyer, Ricardo Frega Navia, analyzed on the ADN program of Radio Gol 96.7 the complex legal scenario that Colón faces after the departure of José Neris. The expert was blunt in stating that, following FIFA's regulatory changes, the Santa Fe club will have a difficult path to involve the Ecuadorian institution in the litigation.

The change in joint liability

Frega Navia explained that FIFA's regulations changed just over a year ago, specifically in article 17, paragraph 2. "Until that period, for over 20 years, the regulation established that the new club was jointly liable. It was almost impossible to prove that the club had nothing to do with it," he noted. However, he clarified that today the situation is the opposite: "Today you have to prove that the new club induced the player to breach the contract. It seems totally unlikely to prove that Emelec was behind the breach."

The provisional clearance of Neris

Regarding the possibility of the forward debuting soon in Ecuador, the lawyer was emphatic: "Today it is much simpler. FIFA has a provisional clearance procedure, a provisional CTI, and it enables you within one to two weeks immediately." According to the specialist, this is based on the protection of the right to work, so "it is an express procedure" that will allow him to play while the main lawsuit continues in international courts.

The requirement of prior notification

Regarding the player's defense strategy, Frega Navia warned about the steps Neris should have followed before terminating. "Football assumes there must be a serious breach by the club, such as lack of remuneration. But here he should have notified them beforehand," he detailed. Furthermore, he pointed out that according to FIFA regulations, "there are two months and 15 days of tolerance period that you have to give to be paid" before being considered free.

The sanctions: compensation and sports suspension

In case Colón is favored in the lawsuit, the lawyer explained that FIFA uses multiple variables to determine the economic amount: "It could be the percentage of the 800 thousand dollars that Colón paid, minus the time consumed from the contract. It is impossible to know in advance how much corresponds." However, the most concerning for the player is the disciplinary sanction: "The regulation establishes that FIFA could impose a sanction of up to four months on the player to disqualify him from playing, as an additional sanction to the unilateral breach."

The claim of River de Montevideo

Finally, Frega Navia analyzed the role of the Uruguayan club, a partner of Colón in the transfer. "River de Montevideo could claim 35% of compensation as long as it was established in the transfer contract. If you don't expressly state it, you are not entitled to 35% on compensation for unilateral breach," he concluded, highlighting the importance of having foreseen all the causes in the fine print of the original agreement.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.