India international Manisha Kalyan hasn’t taken long to acclimatise to Greek football. The speedy winger scored her ‘unofficial first goal’ - as her club FC PAOK describes it - in a friendly match a few days ago.
While Manisha says that she is “excited to play in another European club”, the search for her next destination, after spending two successful years in Cyprus’ Apollon Ladies, wasn’t without hiccups.
Before the Greek outfit secured the Indian’s services, Brooklyn FC of the newly minted USL Super League in the USA, tried but went back on its word.
“Yes, we signed the contract but there was no communication from their side. That put us in a difficult spot. Since we had already signed a contract with them, it meant we couldn’t sign with any other club. That’s why we moved FIFA,” Manisha told Sportstar over a phone call.
Indeed, Manisha had signed a pre-contract with Brooklyn in February this year, and was even promised the professional contract. When the Indian player’s camp saw that the communications lines were one-way, it decided to move FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC).
The DRC is responsible for overseeing disputes between clubs and players over contractual stability and other employment-related issues, as per the FIFA website.
“They breached the contract that they had with the player. We took them to FIFA, to arbitration. FIFA decided in our favour and the player is entitled to receive the compensation,” Marcos Ruano, who has been Manisha’s agent since 2022, told Sportstar via an audio recording.
On August 13, the news of Manisha winning the case at FIFA’s DRC, with the body accepting her right to compensation due to the breach, was shared by the SILA Law Company - a firm that deals with sports law, amongst others.
Ivan Bykovskiy, a lawyer who has been with SILA for the last three years, worked personally on this case.
“Brooklyn FC offered Manisha a pre-contract which, under certain circumstances, is considered by FIFA a valid contract because it contains all necessary conditions like salary, duration, parties involved. It was signed and Brookyln even addressed some emails to the player’s agent. They were happy to start working together, but the club disappeared,” Bykovskiy told Sportstar, also via an audio recording.
The lawyer from Russia explains further that in the USL, the club has to apply to the league, which then sends the template of the professional contract to the player. The pre-contract, according to him, specified that the formal contract would be sent within 15 days.
“To the contrary, the player wanted the club to honour the agreement. We asked them several times to inform us of the steps we need to take for the player to go there, but they never got back to us,” Bykovskiy, who is based in Spain’s Valencia, said.
If the pages of FIFA’s Commentary on the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, 2023 edition, are turned, Article 17 deals with the ‘consequences of terminating a contract without just cause’.
“In case the player signed a new contract by the time of the decision, the value of the new contract for the period corresponding to the time remaining on the prematurely terminated contract shall be deducted from the residual value of the contract that was terminated early (the “Mitigated Compensation”),” the article 17(1)(i) read.
As of August 30, Brooklyn FC is yet to pay Manisha the compensation that has been decided on by the DRC.
Sportstar reached out to Brooklyn FC for a comment on this matter, but hasn’t heard back from the outfit yet.
Manisha, who has joined FC PAOK on a one-year deal, will be hoping to recreate her success in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, when the Greek side faces Israel’s Kiryat Gat SC on September 4.
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