PSV Eindhoven have slammed Spanish football, and in particular Sevilla, over unpaid transfer fees.
The Dutch club are still owed €2m for striker Arouna Kone, who was signed in August 2007 for €12m, but the Andalusians have so far ignored calls to pay the money.
The contract contained a clause stipulating that if the Ivory Coast international was sold to another club before the end of his five-year deal, which expired this year, then PSV would receive an extra €2m, a situation that has now arisen after the 28-year-old was transferred to Levante in May following a year on loan at the Ciutat de Valencia.
In a strongly-worded statement on the club’s official website, the Eindhoven outfit pulled no punches in its assessment of the state of affairs.
“Some Spanish football clubs like Sevilla are ignoring contracts and international rules of good behaviour,” it read.
“We request the Spanish Football Association and the Spanish clubs who do comply with decent behaviour to convince others to change these attitudes.”
There was also a statement from the club’s chief executive Justin Sanders, who was especially scathing in his condemnation.
“It has been already extremely strange that Spanish clubs can continue to buy players and pay high salaries whilst not paying their creditors because of administrative Spanish bankruptcy,” said Sanders.
“Today Sevilla has added a new Spanish episode by simply refusing to pay a contractual obligation and also refusing mediation from the European Club Association (ECA).
“The procedures with FIFA to settle disputes are lengthy and it looks as if some Spanish clubs, like Sevilla, are misusing the extra time to spend their money differently and maybe a future administrative bankruptcy protects them from paying the bills.”
Sanders went on to demand football’s governing bodies take action against Sevilla and other La Liga clubs.
“We urge FIFA, UEFA and the ECA, but especially the Spanish football environment, to start working on the improvement of the reputation of Spanish clubs. The first step is to fulfil contractual obligations.”
