Emmanuel Adebayor has won a FIFA tribunal that will pocket him almost half a million after an unfair sacking.
The Togo star joined Paraguayan side Olimpia in early 2020, just months before the pandemic hit. Football - and the world - shut down for months and when games began to resume Adebayor was sacked in June of the same year, with the 38-year-old not playing since.
Adebayor made just four appearances and took issue with his dismissal. Football's governing body has now ordered Olimpia to pay Adebayor 510,000 dollars (£420,000), plus 12 per cent interest backdated to 2020, following a tribunal.
New Olimpia president Miguel Cardona said: "There's nothing we can do about contracts that were previously signed, but the club will change its policy on salaries, and impose a pay cap. We had a demand for payment from Adebayor. We knew he was on 200,000 dollars a month."
Prior to playing in South America Adebayor had been representing Kayserispor in Turkey. His last spell in England saw him play briefly for Crystal Palace in 2016 having also spent periods with Tottenham, Manchester City and Arsenal as well as Real Madrid.
It was his stint on the red half of north London that really put the Togo international on the map, scoring 30 times in the 2007/08 season. Adebayor has since revealed Arsenal opted to cash in on him, stating previously: "[My agent] didn't really say why they wanted to sell me but I found out that they need the money and someone had to leave – that was me.
"Wenger put me where I am today but he cannot stand up and say last summer I told him I wanted to leave. I told him I wanted to stay. I don't think our relationship is broken. I think they need the money and need to sell someone. They chose me and they got their money."
Manchester City came calling and the forward made the headlines when he scored early in his Etihad career against the Gunners. He would run the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the travelling fans, who once sang his name, later apologising for his emotional response.
He said: “We are all human beings, we have to do a mistake to be better tomorrow. I have done a big mistake today. And I think tomorrow, these things will never happen anymore.”
Adebayor would further tarnish his reputation with a move to the opposite side of north London. He spent over three years at Tottenham, scoring 42 times, including one in the derby at the Emirates. The veteran would also be on the wrong side of it -receiving a red card in the derby.
