Excluded Capital
French international football player Mathieu Valbuena wins his second leg against Olympique de Marseille! The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal on December 10, 2021 condemned the Marseille football club to pay 568,000 euros to Mathieu Valbuena following a dispute dating back to 2014. If the football player offers himself today a pre-retirement in the sun near Olympiakos in Greece, he is best known for having made the heyday of Olympique de Marseille between 2006 and 2014. An idyll that will last 8 years, but love stories end badly … in general.
Because when the Marseille club wishes to sell Mathieu Valbuena to Dynamo Moscow during the summer transfer window of 2014, a disagreement arises between the player and his agent at the time, Christophe Hutteau. In order to sign for the Russian club, “Petit Vélo” changes representative and leaves Christophe Hutteau. The two men reach a divorce agreement according to which the footballer will pay his ex-manager compensation of 568,000 euros. Valbuena refuses to pay her, but the Aix-en-Provence tribunal de grande instance orders her to pay the money. In the meantime, his former agent had his Porsche seized to get his money… He then resigned himself to paying his former agent on June 3, 2015.
However, if the native of Bruges has long refused to take out the checkbook, it is because he affirms that it is Olympique de Marseille who had to pay the sum, following an arrangement planned during his transfer to Dynamo. Moscow. An arrangement made with Vincent Labrune, president of OM at the time. Precisely, the lawyer of Valbuena, Didier Domat had asked by email to Vincent Labrune: “for the good form, can you please confirm to me that the OM is taking care of the compensation of Christophe Hutteau (568 Keuros approximately) in the framework of this deal? “And the boss of OM had replied laconically:“ OK ”.
Problem: OM also refuses to pay. The footballer therefore dragged his former club to the Marseille Labor Council, which noted on June 13, 2018 the commitment made by Olympique de Marseille against Mathieu Valbuena and ordered him to pay him the 568,000 euros. The club appealed against this decision. On December 10, the Aix en Provence Court of Appeal therefore confirmed the judgment rendered at first instance by the industrial tribunal in 2018. The appeal judges noted that “OM had made a commitment to Mathieu Valbuena to pay the commissions of his former agent, then, at the time of the finalization of the player’s transfer, confirmed this commitment in order to allow the effective transfer as it is clearly mentioned in the email of Mathieu Valbuena’s advice, then a subsequently refused to settle the sums owed to Christophe Hutteau, and forced Mathieu Valbuena to settle them with his former agent. OM has thus certainly failed in its obligations of loyalty and good faith in the performance of its contractual obligations. ” All the more so as “OM has always taken charge of the remuneration due to agent Christophe Hutteau”.
In addition to the 568,000 euros already paid, the court also increased the bill by ordering the Olympique de Marseille to 5,000 euros in compensation for the material and image damage suffered, plus 2,500 euros in reimbursement of legal costs. The OM, which claimed in return 50,000 euros for abusive procedure, was rejected.
Contacted by Capital, OM spokespersons and lawyers representing both parties, Me Didier Domat and Me Michel Kuhn did not respond.
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