FIFA penalises Russian club for refusing to pay Mariupol for training traitor footballer

Moscow's FC Lokomotiv has been penalised following FC Mariupol's successful case against the Russian club over unpaid fees for former Shakhtar footballer Mark Mampassi.

Source: Andrii Sanin, first vice president of the Ukrainian club

Quote: "Friends, you probably saw the news a few days ago that Moscow's Lokomotiv finally lost the case against our club in the Mark Rene Mampassi case? I'll add a little background: this case has been going on since 2022. The football officials at this Russian Premier League club had refused to pay the fees required under FIFA regulations when a young player is transferred.

Russian football is no different from Russian politics, where constant lying, distortion of the facts and cynicism of the highest order are direct instruments of influence. The reasoning and arguments put forward by Lokomotiv's lawyers were also full of ugly ‘facts’. They claim that ‘Mariupol is now a Russian city, it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the UAF [Ukrainian Football Association], Mariupol Football Club has been completely destroyed and does not exist as a "football entity"...’ But thanks to our legal partners from Germany, Berlin Sport Consulting, we initially won the case in the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and then fought off Russia’s appeal at the CAS [the Court of Arbitration for Sport].

And if anyone thinks that the Russians will ever admit their mistakes, they are deeply mistaken. So here is the logical result of three years of fighting against Russia's distortion of reality: as of yesterday, Moscow's Lokomotiv has been banned from registering players."

Background:

• Mampassi initially trained at Shakhtar Donetsk and signed with FC Mariupol in 2021. He moved to FC Lokomotiv the same year, changing his Ukrainian citizenship to Russian.
• Under FIFA rules, the Russians should have paid FC Mariupol €50,000 for the footballer’s training, but this did not happen.
• The defender has been playing for the Belgian club Kortrijk on loan since 2023.
• Earlier, it was reported that FIFA had lifted the transfer ban on another top Russian club, CSKA Moscow.

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