GENEVA: Facing a one-year transfer ban from FIFA, Marseille went to court Wednesday in a dispute with Watford over the 2020 signing of Senegal midfielder Pape Gueye.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Gueye — who faces a four-month playing ban by FIFA for breach of contract — was attending the start of a two-day hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland. No target date has been set for the verdict.
Marseille are second in the French league and on track to qualify for the Champions League next season, when the ban could take effect if the club lose the case.
Marseille also faces being blocked from registering new players for two consecutive transfer windows, and Gueye could be sidelined from all soccer for four months. The punishments were initially handed down by FIFA last year but were put on hold pending the appeal verdict.
Watford announced in April 2020 that they had made a pre-contract agreement with Gueye, a Paris-born France youth international then playing for Le Havre, on a five-year deal starting after that season.
Gueye, then 21, backed out of joining Watford and later signed with Marseille, which had finished runner-up in Ligue 1 to qualify for the following season’s Champions League.
Watford filed a case claiming breach of contract at FIFA’s disputes resolution chamber, which found in the club’s favor and imposed the bans on Marseille and Gueye. Marseille were reportedly ordered to pay Watford 2.5 million euros ($2.6 million).
Watford announced the ruling in January 2022 while Gueye was with Senegal at the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. He helped Senegal win that tournament, and played in three of the country’s games at the World Cup in Qatar.
The CAS case combines three separate appeals, filed by each of the clubs and the player.
Gueye has since been loaned out by Marseille to play for Sevilla for the rest of the season, although was not included in the Spanish team’s squad list for the Europa League. Six-time champion Sevilla host Fenerbahce on Thursday in the round of 16.
Marseille, Gueye at court fighting FIFA bans in Watford case
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Marseille, Gueye at court fighting FIFA bans in Watford case
- Marseille are second in the French league and on track to qualify for the Champions League
- They also face being blocked from registering new players for two consecutive transfer windows
Premier League rings in New Year with goal drought as Man City lose ground in title race
- Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal’s advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight
- Liverpool’s attack was also found wanting as they drew 0-0 at home to Leeds United while there were no goals at Brentford as they ground out a draw with Tottenham Hotspur
SUNDERLAND, England: The Premier League’s festive feast turned stale on Thursday as the New Year’s Day program served up three 0-0 draws, most significantly Manchester City’s stalemate at Sunderland which left them four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal’s advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight.
Liverpool’s attack was also found wanting as they drew 0-0 at home to Leeds United while there were no goals at Brentford as they ground out a draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
The only goals of the day came at Selhurst Park where Fulham’s Tom Cairney scored a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw.
Sunderland have proved stubborn opposition on their return to the Premier League and have now drawn with City, Arsenal and third-placed Aston Villa at their Stadium of Light.
They are only the second promoted team to remain unbeaten in their first 10 home games in a Premier League campaign, after Ipswich Town in 1992-93, and were worth their point.
City did everything in their power to make the breakthrough but home goalkeeper Robin Roefs pulled off a series of saves while the closest the visitors came to scoring was Josko Gvardiol’s header which shaved the post in the second half.
“They are so physical. They’re so strong, so it’s not a surprise at that. We take the point,” City boss Pep Guardiola said. “Really pleased with the performances, especially in the second half. There’s still a long way (to go).”
One boost for City was the sight of Rodri back in action as a substitute for the injured Niko Gonzalez having recovered from a hamstring injury that had restricted him to a handful of minutes in the last three months.
Arsenal’s 4-1 thrashing of Villa on Tuesday put them on 45 points at the halfway stage of the season while Pep Guardiola’s City have 41 after just their second league draw of the season.
Next up for Arsenal is a trip to struggling Bournemouth on Saturday while City are at home a day later against Chelsea who parted ways with coach Enzo Maresca on Thursday.
Reigning champions Liverpool are 12 points behind Arsenal in fourth place as they produced a lacklustre display.
Their best chance fell to Hugo Ekitike but his miss rather summed up Liverpool’s day, somehow heading an inviting cross by Jeremie Frimpong away from goal when he seemed set to score.
It could have been worse for Arne Slot’s side too with Dominic Calvert-Lewin having an 81st-minute goal disallowed for offside after latching on to a pass by Noah Okafor.
“You would like to start off (2026) with a win,” Slot said. “But it was difficult. I don’t think we were able to play many times through their low block.
“Sometimes we didn’t have enough bodies in front of the goal and in other moments where we did create or we were close to a goal, we were a bit unfortunate.”
For Leeds it was another important point in their bid to stay clear of the relegation zone. They are in 16th place with 21 points, seven ahead of third-from-bottom West Ham United.
“It doesn’t come along that often that you get a clean sheet and a point at Anfield,” Leeds boss Daniel Farke said.
“We had to defend and suffer but we are newly promoted and came to the defending champions.”
Spurs manager Thomas Frank went back to his old club Brentford but it was a forgettable affair as Tottenham’s 137-game run in the Premier League without a goalless draw ended.
Their last one was also against Brentford in May 2022.
The draw left Tottenham in 12th place with 26 points while Brentford, who had the better chances, are ninth with 27.
Palace are now winless in six matches in all competitions as they were denied victory by a superb curling shot by Cairney.
Jean-Philippe Mateta had headed Palace into the lead but the hosts faded and Fulham would have snatched all three points had Dean Henderson not made a great save to deny Timothy Castagne and had Joachim Andersen not blazed a shot over.
“When the legs and the mind are not that fresh it’s a little bit difficult. It was a good point today,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner said. Palace are 10th with Fulham 11th, both on 27 points.
