The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled in favor of Sevilla in the dismissal of defender Joris Gnagnon.
The CAS ruled that Sevilla had justified cause to terminate Gnagnon's contract and ordered the player to pay the costs of the procedure, the Spanish club confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
The French centre-back was fired by Sevilla in September 2021 after long-standing concerns about the player's professionalism and physical condition.
The reasons given by Sevilla to justify Gnagnon's dismissal were “the player's alleged overweight situation and his multiple delays in training.”
Gnagnon, whose contract with Sevilla expired in June 2023, appealed to the CAS for unfair dismissal, demanding million-dollar compensation.
Gnagnon had previously appealed to FIFA, but football's governing body rejected his claim as “inadmissible” as the player had already filed a labor dispute in a Spanish court.
The Spanish court closed Gnagnon's case because he did not attend the mandatory hearing.
Gnagnon, who had joined Sevilla in the summer of 2018 in a €13.5 million ($14.7 million) transfer from Rennes, only played seven LaLiga games in his three years at the club.
According to the verdict, the weight parameters of the players expected by the Club were reasonable. In addition, Sevilla tried to help the player and repeatedly warned Gnagnon of the consequences of not respecting the guidelines set by the club.
Different medical checks carried out by the club indicated that the player was overweight.
Gnagnon, 27, has not had a club since leaving St Etienne in May 2022.
He had joined the French team as a free agent four months after being fired by Sevilla.
