Sylvano Comvalius played a decisive role in Ħamrun Spartans’ successful appeal against a FIFA ruling that had condemned the Maltese outfit to pay over €230,000 (including interest) to three foreign clubs after signing the Dutch forward in January 2009.
This week, the Court of Arbitration of Sport reversed a decision taken by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber in April last year ordering the Spartans to pay Comvalius’s previous clubs – FC Amsterdam, Almere City FC and Club Quick Boys – compensation after it was alleged that he had signed his first professional contract here following his grooming years in the Netherlands.
Malta FA lawyer Chris Bonett represented Ħamrun at the CAS along with case expert Volker Hesse, a lawyer from Switzerland.
Bonett said Comvalius, now plying his trade in the Chinese league with Fujian Smart Hero, was straight to the point when divulging crucial information on how facts had evolved before he started playing in the Maltese Premier League.
“When Comvalius joined Ħamrun in 2009 he immediately signed a statement saying he had already put pen to paper on a professional contract with Club Quick Boys. So, the Spar-tans were not obliged to pay compensation money to his previous clubs.
“When this case first came to light he was no longer here but was still willing to give his version of the facts and submitted a written statement to the CAS, confirming the way the story had evolved. In the end, his contribution proved crucial and key for Ħamrun to win this appeal.”
Bonett, the MFA Legal Department head, revealed that when FIFA’s first ruling went against Ħamrun, they still believed that somewhere something was missing and immediately contacted Hesse for his opinion.
When further investigation was held, it was discovered that the Dutch FA had three player’s passports attached to Comvalius and three different dates existed on his registration at FC Amsterdam.
All this continued to add doubts on the validity of the case against the Maltese club.
The evidence Ħamrun had produced was clear enough but in the end Comvalius’s statement saying he had signed an employ-ment contract at Club Quick Boys shifted the balance decisively in favour of the Spartans.
“FC Quick Boys reluctantly admitted that they had offered an employment contract to Comvalius.
“However, they contended that it could not be classified as a professional deal as the papers had to be registered at the national association and they could not do so since they were amateurs,” Bonett said.
The CAS didn’t accept Club Quick Boys’ argument and said that if a player who had a written contract with a club is paid more for his footballing activities than the expenses he effectively incurs, then he should be con-sidered a professional.
“The CAS ruled that the first real professional contract signed by Comvalius was that of FC Quick Boys and not Ħamrun so the FIFA ruling was annulled,” Bonett added.
Victor Cassar, the Ħamrun Spartans vice-president, said his committee did well to analyse the situation carefully and avoid being deceived by others involved in this case to pay the sums requested.
“A representative at one of the three Dutch clubs stated that Comvalius had trained regularly from August 2004 to June 2008 when in actual fact he had been struggling with injuries in that particular period and was unable to practise,” Cassar said.
“He also stated that Ħamrun Spartans were informed that they had to pay compensation money to sign Comvalius but that statement could not be proven as we’ve really never been in touch on this matter.
“Also, the statement that Comvalius and Club Quick Boys had no written contract was another misleading fact as it later emerged. I’m disappointed to say that national federations of such huge status should never have let all this to happen at the detriment of others.”
Cassar thanked the Malta Football Association for their support and also lauded the sterling contribution of fellow committee members Joe Borg and Paul Borg who dedicated most of their time on this case alone.
“On behalf of my club, I have to thank the Malta FA as we could not do all this by ourselves. Now this dark chapter is closed so we have to look forward with renewed optimism and embark on new initiatives to strengthen our club’s prospects for the future,” Cassar said.