Loose Cannon!: Reggie at QPR

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad' started by punintended_13, Nov 28, 2018.

  1. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Ever heard of "severable acts"? It's fundamental to contract law's operation. Similar reasoning is applied in employment law for high-paid key employees whose salaries aren't paid on time for some months but are always/nearly always paid in the end. You should look it up.

    Salaries being paid with significant delays in certain leagues shouldn't be a fact of life but it is in football and not just in Portugal - ask Marlon Fossey - so the statutory and customary legal ramifications everywhere are well-known: you play on at least until the end of the season and pursue a contract nullification in court.

    The deal didn't "stink from Day 1" it smelt of roses. Not even close. On paper, joining Boavista for a season of, well, "seasoning" before moving to Ligue 1 sister club Lille was seen as something of a coup at the time. The weak link in the chain was Gerard Lopez's finances. Once his liquidity problems forced him to sell Lille in late 2021, Reggie's French move disappeared and so did the money to finance Boavista.

    The lesson there is not "avoid middlemen wherever possible" - they're SOP in business deals - it's read the effing contract, don't sign a chain deal without an obligation-to-buy clause and don't join affiliated club networks without checking the ultimate owner's finances. Thoroughly.
     
  2. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    #1277 The Irish Rover, Sep 13, 2024
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2024
    True, but the he wasn't a very expensive signing and if he'd even maintained his value, Boavista's cash flow issues - which were critical at times - would have seen them sell in a heartbeat.

    The bottom line is that paying him in arrears is on Boavista, 100%.

    Not playing well enough over 2.5 seasons to attract the half-decent offer that a cash-strapped club jumps at is primarily on Reggie.
     
  3. zlatan_but_a_car

    Botswana Meat Commission FC
    United States
    Oct 16, 2017
    ehhhh... I wouldn't say this decision absolves Boavista entirely. Their defense was more-or-less "actually, FIFA says that you can only dissolve your contract due to non-payment if we don't pay you for several months, and you only waited a month and a few weeks".
     
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  4. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
  5. keller4president

    Jan 5, 2006
  6. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    #1281 The Irish Rover, Sep 13, 2024
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2024
    According to SBI nation, "as part of the [FIFA tribunal's] ruling, Boavista will also have to pay Cannon $85,226 in unpaid wages, plus 5% interest". That's 3-4 months' of his reported salary there, part of which was likely accrued after he walked out.

    There is no way any tribunal on earth would have nullified his contract on that basis, certainly not when he signs a new deal in under 3 months that triples his salary.

    @Chess_Panther was right and we were wrong. Cannon was just greedy and came up with a pretty transparent dodge to engineer a massive pay rise that Boavista wasn't legally obliged to give him. No wonder FIFA imposed a penalty of $1.5 million.
     
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  7. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Anyone who thinks @Chess_Panther is owed a thorough apology please click the Rep button.

    If he's left BigSoccer - can't say I blame him - could the mods @bungadiri or @TyffaneeSue email him to that effect?

    I think it's due
     
  8. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    #1283 The Irish Rover, Sep 13, 2024
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2024
    Palace would need a new #2 and the window is closed so they won't let him go.

    If he'd stayed at Forest and the Portugese FA allowed them to make an emergency loan signing, it might have worked. Boavista would have balked at his salary though, even at the traditional 50-50 split.
     
  9. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    It's a FIFA tribunal decision. If Reggie doesn't cough up, Boavista can get a FIFA ruling that Reggie is ineligible to play pro soccer in any FIFA-sanctioned league, be it MLS, Europe, Australia, etc.

    Reggie's only option is to negotiate a deal with Boavista or launch an appeal with the CAS and hope they overturn or modify the tribunal's ruling. Dunno if he's catholic or not, but he'd better start saying his Hail Marys in that case.
     
  10. TyffaneeSue

    TyffaneeSue moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 15, 2003
    Upstairs
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    You called?

    I'm a mere MLS mod without any superpowers, just hanging out with a bunch of depressed but generally well-behaved Quakes fans. Looks like @Chess_Panther hasn't stopped by in 8 months, so I would say he's gone.
     
  11. zlatan_but_a_car

    Botswana Meat Commission FC
    United States
    Oct 16, 2017
    The problem with his defense of the club was that he very much down-played other club controversies. He was technically correct about Cannon, but he was not correct about the rest of the club, which is borderline criminal. It's honestly WILD to me that Boavista is being allowed to compete this season: they're under their 4th consecutive transfer ban, they have 30 OTHER complaints of unpaid contracts waiting adjudication at FIFA, and one of their largest creditors successfully sued to obtain all of their transfer revenues from this season in order to pay outstanding debts. Victor Murta, the club president who was very confident about their case against Reggie was forced out by the club's board this summer and is currently undergoing a forensic audit started by the club.

    Chess Panther was right about Reggie, but pretty wrong about everything else. The club has been very loud about winning that lawsuit to try and distract from the 30 other cases of unpaid wages, the clubs and vendors suing them in real courts, and looming probability of out-and-out bankruptcy facing the club. Reggie dun f****d up, but... honestly... Boavista kinda sounds like a nightmare club.
     
  12. JG

    JG Member+

    Jun 27, 1999
    Not so sure about that. One of the very few times the Swiss courts have ever overturned a CAS decision was when they tried to ban Matuzalem over his unpaid debts to Shakhtar.

    https://www.mondaq.com/sport/184712...-and-its-consequences-on-the-fifa-regulations

     
  13. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Interesting. Then it's a "yes, he's a VERY naughty boy. Now, please go and negotiate" verdict.

    Which is a lot more common than people think, especially when comparing Europe with the US
     
  14. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Portuguese league has had problems with other Americans as Keaton Parks had similar troubles with a different club. No telling how many other players have had trouble that we don't pay attention to but I'd warn any player not to go there if their courts allow that.
     
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  15. adam tash

    adam tash Member+

    Jul 12, 2013
    Barcelona, Spain
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    xactly

    irish rover is making no sense here
    i really dont know how you can be sincerely trying to take us down this path....other than so you can "win" an internet argument

    boavista having like 30 open complaintes etc makes this an open and shut case for me in terms of who i sympathize with - the player

    forcing a player or expecting a playeroften in early 20s to be some kind of expert in contract law and stoicly play out a season without being paid wages is crazy to me...like what are you really on?

    i agree about the obligation to buy clause having been necessary...but my point about avoiding these kinds of deals stands

    clearly reggie either got bad legal advice or didnt seek out proper guidance...which he will suffer for (unfairly imo)

    players should avoid being signed to any club that doesn thave long term vested interest...another way of saying avoid middle men...(although obviously many parties are now involved in any player signing any contract)

    i admire reggies sense of right and wrong and that he got out of such a situation and feel sorry for him in that it didnt work out. i think the courts failed him....i dont think boavista has been vindicated in any way here
     
  16. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    Come to MLS boy. Let's see if FIFA or Portugal bother you for that money when you're back home.
     
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  17. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    Those problematic Americans and their silly expectation of being paid in time, or at most within the next month! Don't they know how things work in the lower half of Europe?
     
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  18. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How dare they think they even deserve a paycheck the any team in Portugal is doing them a favor to even let them play for them. They should be paying the club for the opportunity!!!
     
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  19. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Appealing to the CAS seems like the best move.
     
  20. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I mean the last report we had was they had yet to pay Dallas for him despite losing at the CAS and completely blowing the deadline imposed by the CAS.
     
  21. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Only if he still harbours thoughts of playing in Europe or outside North America.

    Boavista won't have the money to sue anyone. Any money they do have for lawyers will go on fighting off the multitudes suing them at FIFA or the CAS.

    Stay in MLS and keep playing. By the time do get around to Reggie, he'll be past 30 anyway.
     
  22. Gorky

    Gorky Member+

    Jul 28, 2006
    NYC
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  23. gomichigan24

    gomichigan24 Member+

    Jul 15, 2002
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

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