French side Lille must pay compensation of 300,000 euros ($336,000, 217,000 pounds) to Belgian club Genk in relation to the signing of Divock Origi, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Monday.
The decision made at CAS’ headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, overrules a previous verdict by football’s governing body FIFA in February 2014 which refused Genk’s demands for compensation.
Belgian international Origi — now on Liverpool’s books — was trained by Genk before leaving at the age of 15 to sign a professional contract with Ligue 1 outfit Lille.
FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber originally denied Genk a “training compensation” fee as they had not offered a contract to Origi — now aged 20 — before he left for northern France.
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But Genk successfully argued to CAS that they couldn’t offer Origi a contract at the time as Belgian law prohibits the employment of minors under the age of 16 as paid athletes.
Origi, who was part of Belgium’s World Cup squad in Brazil last summer, joined Liverpool for A?10 million (13.8m euros) after the tournament and was loaned back to the French club last season.
By AFP