FIFA DRC, 17 January 2020, no. 19-01925, Lukasz Gikiewicz[1]
This is a classical case of bullying and harassing a player whom a club no longer wants. The club adopted a strategy to force the player out of the club by sending him first to train alone and then with young amateur players. It also deprived the player of several benefits and excluded him from first-team communications. Ultimately, when the case was already at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the club filed arguments regarding mitigating damages with the player’s salary under his new contract but omitted to make a specific request for relief in this respect. Therefore, the Panel decided to uphold the FIFA decision and not mitigate the damages.
Brief Facts
On 31 July 2019, the Romanian club FC FSCB (Club - previously known as Steaua) and the Polish player Lukasz Gikiewicz (Player) signed an employment contract, valid until 30 June 2020. The contract included the Club’s obligation to bear “all expense for training and participation in sports competitions (transports, accommodation, meals, etc.)” and to “provide the player with a service car during the contract period.”
On 6 September 2019, the Player complained to the Club that he was not summoned for first-team official matches since 18 August 2019; the Club’s owner made statements announcing the Player’s departure due to dissatisfaction with his performance; the...
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