From Bad to Worse (to Court) for Valencia

By: Martha | January 3rd, 2008

Though ValenciaCesar is clearly too depressed to blog about it, the meltdown at Valencia is continuing. Since the explosive sackings of David Albelda and goalkeeper Santiago Canizares (and, later, Miguel Angel Angulo), things have turned into a bit of a farce, with coach Ronald Koeman sticking firm to his statement that the players won’t turn out for his team again, while allegedly supportive president Juan Soler insists they’ve merely been dropped, but are still part of the team. And now, it’s getting worse: Since he’s been unable to come to an amicable agreement that would allow him to leave the club this winter, Albelda is considering taking Valencia to court.

According to Albelda’s lawyer, the club have spent the last three weeks ignoring his attempts to get in touch and work out a release so, since footballers have “the same rights as any other employee,” he’s threatening to drag the club into court to force a response. The main issue here is the €60 million release clause in Albelda’s contract: No one is likely to pay that right now, particularly since he’s is cup-tied, and with a club that are obviously wanting to sell. If Valencia won’t release him, he’s destined to spend the second half twiddling his thumbs in the stand, something no player wants to do (especially if he’s 30, and can feel his youth slipping away).

And there’s another wrinkle to the legal angle: There’s a rule in Spain that a player with more than five league games cannot move during the season to another La Liga club, but Albelda’s agent (litigious bunch, his People) is talking about challenging the rule’s legality in court, particularly if Albelda is unable to convince/force Valencia to release him. If he is released, the five-matches rule becomes irrelevant, but if he’s not, there will be both the €60 million and the league rule to wrangle — things could be about to get very, very confusing, not to mention nasty.