August 2 – He claimed he was forced to work 14 hours a day, often with no meal breaks, fined thousands of Euros if he was late for training by even 30 seconds and spend hours on end standing in the city centre selling newspapers.
Who says all footballers lead privileged lives?FIFPro, the international players’ union, is flagging up the plight of Polish-based Albanian Sebino Plaku, who has just won his case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as proof of the appalling treatment some professional players suffer especially in parts of eastern Europe where they are often bullied into submission.
Last week CAS upheld an plea by Plaku to terminate his contract at Polish club Slask ruling he presented convincing evidence about the abusive treatment he had endured from September 2014 until January 2015.
The CAS decision, said FIFpro in a statement, “is a further confirmation that training alone and all other forms of bullying and harassment by clubs to force players to amend or terminate their contracts is unacceptable.”
The background to the story is that back in August 2014 Wroclaw told Plaku to accept a pay cut for the remainder of his contract that ran until July 1 this year. He refused and suffered the consequences including being made to train alone, forced to stay on at Christmas in isolation and demoted to the B team.
Dejan Stefanovic, FIFPro Board Member and President of the Slovenian players union, says he is aware of many similar cases. “Bullying and harassment of players must stop in football,” he said.
“I admire Sebino Plaku’s perseverance, but unfortunately there have been many more identical cases, among others at Polish clubs, which never ended up in front of a court, due to the impact of the treatment endured by players.”
CAS has ordered Wroclaw to pay Plaku, who has now returned to Albania and plays for champions KF Skenderbeu Korce, CHF5,000 as contribution towards the expenses the player made for the arbitration proceedings. Furthermore, the arbitration committee of the Polish FA has to decide on a compensation for Plaku. One year ago, the same committee decided that the club was not at fault.
“In the case of Sebino Plaku, the player has experienced at least six horrible months, and must also fear for his future career as a professional footballer. The club on the other hand will only suffer minor financial consequences,” said Stefanovic.
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