DUBAI: Al-Ittihad have settled the FIFA dispute with Esperance Club two weeks ago after the Jeddah club paid $200,000 it owed for last season’s signing of the Tunisian Anis Al-Badri, it has been revealed by Arabic-language newspaper Arriyadiyah.
The daily added that the Tunisian club had lodged its complaint as a result of Al-Ittihad’s failure to pay the second instalment of the sale of Al-Badri, which was due in July last year.
According to unnamed sources, FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber issued its ruling obliging Al-Ittihad to pay the amount together with the delay fine.
The news comes only days after Al-Ittihad dragged themselves back into the Saudi Pro League title race with a 2-0 win over reigning champions Al-Hilal
The club is now looking to similarly settle a case with the Argentine club Rosario Central for the transfer of Leonardo Gil in 2017
It is the latest of domestic and foreign disputes that the Al-Ittihad administration is looking to settle as soon as possible.
Meanwhile on Monday, the appeals committee of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) rejected Al-Nassr's appeal against the discipline and ethics committee's decision regarding its decision to suspend its Moroccan forward Abderrazak Hamdallah.
The committee indicated that while it had formally accepted the appeal, its subject was ultimately rejected, supporting the initial disciplinary decision against the player for his alleged altercation with Al-Faisaly defender Waleed Al-Ahmed in Al-Nassr’s King’s Cup semi-final defeat on April 4.
Last Wednesday, the disciplinary committee had announced that Hamdallah will be temporarily suspended for a period of 15 days, with an option to extend the ban to any matches in which he is illegible, until the completion of the study into what happened during the match.
It was the latest controversy to beset the club in a season turmoil on and off the pitch, however Hamdallah, the league’s top scorer for the last two seasons is free to take part in Al-Nassr’s AFC Champions League group matches starting this week.
