A footballer’s five-year fight for justice against his former club has come to a successful end after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in his favour.
DR Congo international Ben Malango, currently at Qatar SC, signed in 2016 a three-year contract with five-time CAF Champions League winners TP Mazembe – but the forward misplaced the original physical copy of the agreement.
After TP Mazembe initially refused several times to provide a new copy of Malango’s agreement, which expired on 30 May 2019, the club in June 2019 instead produced a ‘second contract’, according to the court, that said Malango’s deal came to an end in 2021. Malango denied having signed a contract which expired in 2021 and rejected its authenticity.
What’s more, TP Mazembe had also added a new clause where a USD 2,000,000 penalty had to be paid if the player breached the contract; this came at a time when Malango was in negotiations with other clubs.
Considering himself a free agent, Malango signed with Moroccan club Raja Casablanca during the summer registration window of 2019. TP Mazembe then filed a claim against Malango and Raja before the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber, which in March 2020 ruled the player and club jointly liable for nearly USD 300,000.
Malango, supported by Congolese player union UFC and FIFPRO, took the case to CAS. After a near five-year procedure, in which two independent experts were appointed to examine the authenticity of the challenged contract, CAS found that TP Mazembe had failed to prove the integrity and authenticity of the ‘second contract’, that Malango was indeed a free agent when he joined Raja in 2019, and thus the player was not liable to pay financial compensation to his former club.
The CAS ruling questioned in particular why the 'second contract' would surface "at the very time when Mr Malango was in contract negotiations with other clubs" and why "different writing instruments were used for Mr Malango’s initials".
The CAS ruling added: “When taking together, and assessed in light of all the accompanying circumstance of the case, they weigh sufficiently to cast serious doubts as to the authenticity of the second contract.”
UFC President Herita Ilunga, a former defender with Saint-Etienne and West Ham, welcomed the CAS ruling. He said: "We’re pleased to see Ben finally receive the legal justice that he has spent nearly six years fighting for. Ben’s story reinforces the importance of players receiving and keeping a safe copy of their original contract and also serves as a reminder that your domestic player union and FIFPRO is always on-hand to lend trusted legal support if ever needed."
Malango said: "I feel grateful for the trust and support provided by UFC and FIFPRO along the journey. I’m extremely relieved this legal battle has come to an end."
