ANKARA
Sevilla won a court case against former defender Joris Gnagnon on Thursday after the Spanish La Liga club sacked him in 2021 for being “overweight”.
In a statement, the club reported that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest sports court in the world, founded in Switzerland, ruled in favor of Sevilla in the termination of Gnagnon’s contract, justifying that the player “did not comply with his obligations”. Weight and fitness.
“The Court’s judgement is that the club acted legally and appropriately and that this was not a case of unfair dismissal,” Sevilla said.
“The resolution puts an end to a long procedure that began after the player’s return to the club after the pandemic, in which he arrived seriously overweight. This has not been remedied despite 4 disciplinary proceedings against him. The player was given the opportunity to comply with the prescriptions and recommendations of the medical and nutritional staff to regain his physical condition, but the fact that he did not do so on his own initiative led to his dismissal,” it added.
A FIFA disputes panel previously said that on June 28, 2021, Sevilla had sent him a training program prior to his arrival at the club for the 2021-22 season, but Gnagnon was “found to be overweight at level II (pre-obesity)” on July 7, 2021.
“The player underwent medical checks between July 7 and 12, 2021, which also showed that he weighed more than 90 kg (198. 4 pounds),” FIFA said.
Sevilla are said to have written to Gnagnon and initiated disciplinary proceedings against him.
Then Gnagnon missed the team’s “mandatory weighing” and was “repeatedly late for training sessions.”
The French-Ivorian player “ordered to pay the costs of the arbitration, as well as to assume part of the club’s legal costs”.
Gnagnon has been without a club since leaving French club Saint-Etienne in May 2022.
He joined Saint-Etienne in a loose move four months after being sacked by Sevilla.