According to realistic estimates, the clubs of the Saudi Pro League spent more than 950 million euros on stars in the past transfer period. Less prominent players, on the other hand, were still waiting for their salaries in the new Mecca of professional footballers until recently.
Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mané, Ruben Neves and, and, and. The list of players who have transferred to the Saudi Pro League in recent months reads like a who’s who of world soccer. Less prominent, however, is Renan Ribeiro. The goalkeeper had moved from Sporting Lisbon to Al-Ahli on August 1, 2022, free of charge for a “signing fee” of 400,000 euros.
This is one of the clubs that were recently taken over by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF and have since been pumping money into the market like crazy to lure top players into the league. In addition to Roberto Firmino, the newcomers from Jeddah have signed Riyad Mahrez (previously Manchester City), Edouard Mendy (FC Chelsea), Franck Kessié (FC Barcelona), Roger Ibanez (AS Roma) and Gabri Veiga (Celta Vigo).
FIFA awards Ribeiro 800,000 euros plus interest
Ribeiro, in any case, as it was contractually stipulated, was to collect a salary of 800,000 euros. However, the payment was apparently not made at first. On September 8, 2022, Al-Ahli unilaterally terminated the Brazilian’s contract. The Brazilian then appealed to the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber.
It awarded him the 800,000 euros plus five percent interest on arrears. But there was another point of contention: Ribeiro was to receive a bonus of 300,000 euros if he won promotion. In fact, Al-Ahli became champions and qualified for the Pro League. However, Ribeiro, who never played a game for the club, had to do without the bonus.
After successfully suing for his salary, he also tried to claim his contractual bonus through sports law. But FIFA rejected the second claim. “As the Dispute Resolution Chamber has already dealt with the same matter and reached a final and binding decision,” the world governing body’s ruling reads, “FIFA is not in a position to deal with the dispute again.” The presiding judge of the chamber invoked the principle of res iudicata, meaning the fact that a final judgment had already been issued in the dispute.
In addition to the Ribeiro case, FIFA judges have had to deal with three other disputes over outstanding bonuses from Saudi Arabia in recent months – among other things, because a club president had offered a non-relegation bonus that the club in question owed to at least two players. This raises questions about the payment morale of some clubs in the country, where professional soccer players have recently started to receive milk, honey and petrodollars.