Sporting Clube de Portugal – known colloquially as Sporting Lisbon – is on the brink of becoming one of Europe’s richest clubs. Gelsen Martins is the latest player to be sued through European sports courts for loss of transfer revenues, as is Atletico Madrid, his new employers.
Following an unprecedented – some said premeditated – attack by supporters on players and staff at the club’s training ground, Sporting were left reeling when seven players, including Martins, terminated their contracts.
The players argued former president Bruno de Carvalho – rumored to have been an ultra, one of the club’s violent supporters, in his youth – incited the attacks with incendiary comments in the media last spring.
Bas Dost was the worst affected, suffering a head injury. He immediately terminated his contract, but a short time later, he returned to the club after signing a new, improved deal.
William Carvalho (Real Betis), Rui Patricio (Wolves), and Gelsen Martins (Atletico Madrid) found new clubs instead. Patricio is being sued for $75m with the Portuguese club seeking to see the player banned from all football. He is the Portugal national team goalkeeper, making this one of the more bizarre club vs country confrontations.
Sporting are pursuing both the players and their new employers through the courts, which if they win would net them close to $200m. However, it’s by no means certain they will recoup anything with FIFA taking a dim view of the actions which led to the attack.
If they don’t win any compensation, Sporting face years in the doldrums with Portuguese football nowhere near as wealthy as Europe’s elite leagues.
