Caso Martínez: CAS rejects Corinthians claim over 2025 Libertadores, orders US$ 100,000 bonus | OneFootball

According to Globo.com, the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday rejected Corinthians’ claim that they had not played the 2025 Conmebol Libertadores, a bid to avoid a US$ 100,000 bonus owed to Philadelphia Union in José Martínez’s 2024 deal.

In August 2024, Corinthians agreed to pay the bonus if they qualified for the Libertadores. They finished the season with nine straight wins to climb from the relegation places into the continental spots.

In March 2025, they beat Universidad Central of Venezuela in the second phase, then lost to Barcelona-EQU and missed the group stage. Under the competition rules, they were moved into the Copa Sudamericana.

In its appeal, the club argued they had only played a separate ‘Pré-Libertadores’ qualifier, not the Libertadores itself. CAS, citing Conmebol regulations that define preliminary, group and final phases as parts of the same competition, said failing to reach the groups did not affect the contractual condition and that no distinct tournament called Pré-Libertadores exists.

The appeal was rejected in full. Alongside a transfer ban covering three windows, Corinthians were ordered to pay Philadelphia Union US$ 1.425 million, R$ 7.135 million, plus 15% annual interest, and fined US$ 75,000 by Fifa with a further US$ 25,000 in costs.

Source: Globo.com