Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine files €50m claim against FIFA with CAS

July 19 - Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk is seeking €50m in damages from FIFA for lost transfer fees.

In June, FIFA decided that foreign players in the country could suspend their contracts until June 30, 2023, due to the Russian invasion which forced the domestic league to close.

But the club have now appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) arguing that they lost money on four players who left the club following FIFA's decision.< /p>

"We had to do this because of FIFA's very unfair decision," Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin told the BBC. "The consequences mean we will continue to lose significant revenue on transactions we expected to close.

"We would also like to point out that given the situation Ukrainian clubs are facing with the war, FIFA has shown little respect to these clubs.

"FIFA did not seek to protect the clubs and at no time consulted us to find a solution - they apparently ignored the perilous situation in which Ukrainian football clubs have faced since the start of the war. "

Shakhtar reportedly had 14 foreign players in their squad and intended to sell some of them to raise funds to cover the shortfall.

The club's appeal to CAS, according to the BBC, apparently indicates that "the players' agents advised them to withdraw from negotiations in order to leave the club without any compensation, which would allow them to obtain more agreements lucrative with new employers."

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