Former Nottingham Forest captain Lewis Grabban received $700,000 in compensation for a breach of contract by Al Ahli, it has emerged.
The striker left the City Ground as a free agent last summer. Head coach Steve Cooper had been keen to retain his services, but an agreement could not be reached over fresh terms and his four-year stint with the Reds came to an end.
He went on to join Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli. However, he terminated his contract in November, less than three months after he put pen to paper.
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A report on FIFA’s website outlines the decision taken by its Dispute Resolution Chamber in March regarding the case. Grabban signed for Al Ahli last August, agreeing a one-year deal, with the club holding an option for an additional 12 months beyond that.
Grabban said the club “did not comply with its contractual obligations since the beginning of the contract”. He said he was owed $200,000 signing-on fee and two monthly salaries of $100,000 net, and he also argued he was entitled to compensation worth $2.2 million.
The Dispute Resolution Chamber “partially accepted” Grabban’s claim and ordered Al Ahli to pay the 35-year-old $500,000 net as outstanding remuneration, plus $700,000 as compensation for breach of contract without just cause. The findings also state Al Ahli were “banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for the two next entire and consecutive registration periods following the notification of the present decision”.
The report also states that on 23 January 2023, Grabban informed that he remained unemployed. He had returned Trentside last October to watch Forest beat Liverpool
The forward has previously said, in an interview with The Athletic, of leaving the Reds: “As we celebrated at Wembley, my full intention was to sort something out. I wanted to have another crack at the Premier League with Forest.
“I was out of contract, but I had already been discussing with the manager what his thoughts were. He wanted me to stay at the club, and we discussed what I wanted… and we were in a similar place. I wanted to be with Forest.
“It just did not come to fruition. We were not able to agree on an extension. It just didn’t go in the direction I thought it would to make the deal possible.”
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