CAS 2023/A/10241 Istanbul Spor AS v. Club Estoril Praia & Racine Coly & CAS 2023/A/10247 Racine Coly v. Club Estoril Praia

Date of the decision: 2025-06-04

Arbitrator(s): Annett Rombach

In these related awards, the Court of Arbitration for Sport finds that Estoril Praia breached its contract with Racine Coly without just cause and dismisses Istanbul Spor’s claim for breach of contract against Estoril Praia. The Panel determines that the player had a valid reason to terminate his contract and subsequently sign with Istanbul Spor. As a result, the Portuguese club is ordered to pay compensation, while Istanbul Spor is cleared of all liability.

Facts and Procedure

Racine Coly signed a one-year employment contract with Estoril Praia starting on 1 September 2022. After only a few weeks, the club excluded him from training with the first team, refused to issue his salary payments and barred him from accessing club facilities. On 30 January 2023, Mr. Coly unilaterally terminated the contract, invoking just...

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