The Association of Spanish Footballers have sent a stern warning to Barcelona Football Club over the decision to terminate Ousmane Dembele’s contract.
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Barcelona’s director of football had earlier on Wednesday, January 20th, 2022 in a press conference said the French player will have to leave this club before the end of January 31st, 2022. According to him, the decision was taken after the player’s stalling to sign a new contract.
AFE released a statement in response to the club’s decision saying Dembele must be treated fairly like every other player in the club until his contract expires.
About the situation experienced by the FC Barcelona footballer Ousmane Dembele, the Association of Spanish Footballers wants to express the following; The AFE considers that the signing of an employment contract as a professional soccer player on life’s him to provide his services on behalf of the club following the instructions provided to him.On the other hand, the club is obliged to pay the agreed wages and allow the provision of services under the same conditions as the rest lf his teammates, without there being any type of discrimination or pressure for the athlete to waive their labour rights. We understand the renewal of a contract requires the agreement of the will of both parties. Said agreement of wills must be issued freely without there being external conditions that limit or restrict the freedom of contracting of a professional soccer player.It is true that a professional footballer does not have the right to be lined up or even called up for every match, but rather to be treated under the same conditions as his teammates and to be able to play those matches. But if this circumstance could be understood as pressure to bend their will, and public statements are also made acknowledging this type of pressure, we would be facing an illegal action by the company. AFE considers that not reaching an agreement t to renew an employment contract does not imply a labour breach, so it cannot have any consequences for the provision of servives. The non-alignment of a football for a period of time without any injury, illness or physical impediment, supposes a devaluation of his image and his sports cache that will negatively affect his future contracts. At AFE we want this situation to be resolved without the worker’s rights being violated and we remind you that AFE is available to any footballer who may see their labour rights violated as a worker.
Barcelona are yet to respond to this statement by the footballers association in Spain as at the time of reporting.
