Santa Clara’s appeal dismissed

Morgan Sports Law successfully defended Togolese professional football player, Kennedy Kofi Boateng, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”).

In July 2021, Mr Boateng entered into an employment contract (the “Contract”) with Santa Clara Açores, Futebol, S.A.D. (“Santa Clara”) valid from the date of its signature until 30 June 2023. The Contract included a unilateral extension option (“UEO”) for Santa Clara to extend Mr Boateng’s contract for an additional season.

In November 2022, Santa Clara informed Mr Boateng that it intended to trigger the UEO. However, Mr Boateng disputed the validity of the UEO and left Santa Clara the end of the 2022/2023 season.

In April 2024, the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber found that the UEO was invalid (the “FIFA DRC Decision”). Santa Clara thus appealed the FIFA DRC Decision to the CAS.

Following a hearing in November 2024, a three-member CAS panel found in Mr Boateng’s favour, stating that it had “no hesitation to declare the UEO invalid”.

Mr Boateng was represented at the CAS hearing by William Sternheimer and Marko Lavs, with assistance from other members of the Football Disputes team at Morgan Sports Law.