Sports' top court rules in favor of Sevilla on dismissal of 'overweight' player

By Can Erozden

Sevilla won a legal case Thursday against their former defender Joris Gnagnon after the Spanish La Liga club had dismissed him in 2021 for being "overweight.”

In a statement, the club said the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the world’s highest sports court, which is based in Switzerland, ruled in favor of Sevilla on its terminating of Gnagnon’s contract as it has been justified that the player "failed to maintain appropriate weight and fitness levels."

"The Court's judgement is that the club acted legally and appropriately and that this was not a case of unfair dismissal,” Sevilla said.

"The ruling ends a long procedure that began after the player's post-pandemic return to the club, in which he arrived severely overweight. This was not rectified despite four disciplinary proceedings that were brought against him. The player had the opportunity to comply with the prescriptions and advice of the medical and nutrition staff in order to regain his fitness, but failure to do so on his own initiative resulted in him being dismissed,” it added.

A FIFA disputes panel previously said that on June 28, 2021, Sevilla had sent him a training program prior to his arrival at the club for the 2021-22 season, but Gnagnon was "found to be overweight at level II (pre-obesity)" on July 7, 2021.

"The player underwent other medical controls between 7 and 12 July 2021, which also resulted in him weighting above 90kg (198.4 pounds)," FIFA said.

Sevilla was said to have written to Gnagnon and started disciplinary proceedings against him.

Then Gnagnon missed the team's "mandatory weighing" and was "repeatedly late for training sessions."

The Ivorian-French player was "ordered to pay the arbitration fees, as well as to assume part of the club's legal costs."

Gnagnon has been without a club since leaving French club Saint-Etienne in May 2022.

He joined Saint-Etienne on a free transfer four months after being sacked by Sevilla.