The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in relation to the appeals filed by FC Nantes (France), Ismael Bangoura (Guinea) and Al Nasr Sports Club (Dubaï) against the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber’s decision of 16 November 2012 (notified on 1 February 2013) in which the French club and the Guinean player were sanctioned for an unjustified breach of contract.

Pursuant to the FIFA decision, the player, jointly with FC Nantes, must pay a compensation of EUR 4'500'000 to Al Nasr Sports Club for unilateral termination of the contract without just cause during a protected period.

Furthermore, the player was suspended for a period of 4 months and FC Nantes was banned from registering any new players for the two next entire registration periods following the notification of the FIFA decision.

In their appeals to the CAS, the French club and the player argued that the breach of contract was justified and that the sanctions should be lifted. For its part, Al Nasr Sports Club also appealed to the CAS to request that the amount of compensation be increased.

The three procedures were consolidated and referred to a Panel composed of Prof. Martin Schimke (Germany), President of the Panel, Mr Manfred Nan (Netherlands) and Prof. Luigi Fumagalli (Italy). The parties, together with their representatives and witnesses were heard at a hearing held on 23 May 2013 at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne.

The CAS Panel has issued its decision, without the grounds, which will be communicated at a later date. The three appeals have been dismissed and the decision of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber has been confirmed in its entirety. Therefore, amongst others, FC Nantes remains banned from registering any new players for the next two transfer windows.