Hatem Trabelsi set to return to Ajax's first squad
17 September: After a seven month conflict, including a
lawsuit, a transfer to Arsenal that fell through at the very
last moment and a series of 'no-shows' for talks with the
Ajax board, Hatem Trabelsi and the Amsterdam club have
found a way out of the much discussed 'contract crisis'.
The Tunisian international accepts the terms of his
existing contract and, in order to underscore this, he
even signed a new contract for the same period. The right
fullback will return to the squad of head-coach Ronald Koeman
immediately, although he is not yet ready for competitive
action and will follow a special training schedule in the next
weeks.
Peace between Trabelsi and Ajax was officially signed
during a press conference at the Amsterdam ArenA today,
where Ajax's general director Arie van Eijden, head-coach
Ronald Koeman, Hatem Trabelsi himself and his lawyer, commented
on the matter. Van Eijden announced that Trabelsi has signed a
new two-year contract at Ajax. "For the same payment as the
contract we'd already offered him before the whole affair," Van
Eijden said.
The general director also told the press that Ronald Koeman
took the initiative for a man-to-man talk with the player,
which eventually brought player and club back together. Van
Eijden: "I also talked to Trabelsi and his people this week. We
are now ready to look forward. We will soon see the Hatem we
all know. Trabelsi wants to play in a different country one
day. England, for example. In order to accomplish that, he will
have to train and play for Ajax again. This marks the end of an
unpleasant period. We can now work together again."
Ajax head-coach Ronald Koeman added: "There were certain
signs that told me Hatem was open for a talk with me. This was
a talk between and a coach and his player. There were no others
there. I visisted Hatem at his house and we talked about the
past and the future. I explained that it really would be best
for him to train and play for Ajax again. What's better fun
than training with your team-mates every day? I for one am very
well able to forget about what happened. I will treat him like
anybody else. Trabelsi has always been a good and important
player for Ajax. I also discussed this with the group and they
were happy. The players have never had any problems with Hatem
(...) Although he looks fit he has not trained for a while, so
we'll test him first. Based on that test we'll put a schedule
together which should get him ready for action as soon as
possible."
The third man to provide the press with his comments was
Trabelsi's lawyer, who told that there was an agreement with
Arsenal in August. The clubs had agreed on the transfer fee and
Trabelsi had agreed on the terms of his Arsenal contract. The
deal fell through because the player did not get a working
permit from English authorities, because the number of
international games he had played with Tunisia in recent months
was deemed too low. Trabelsi's lawyer also stressed that the
'Trabelsi party' have now discontinued all legal proceedings,
will accept the terms of the player's new contract and have no
intention whatsoever to take any legal action against Ajax in
the future.
Finally, Trabelsi himself had a few words to say. "It was my
own decision to return to Ajax. I am happy to be part of the
team again. I don't know anything about transfer possibilities
in January. I will first have to play for Ajax again. I've
trained at the Olympic Stadium to stay fit. I'll talk to the
medical staff to see what's going to happen now. At the moment
I would say I'm 70% or 80% fit."
The Trabelsi Crisis
The 'Trabelsi crisis' first made it to the press in
February of this year, as Ajax announced that the club had
extended the player's contract (which originally expired on 30
June 2004) by two seasons. Trabelsi's contract included a
one-sided option for Ajax to do so. Almost immediately,
Trabelsi, his lawyer and his agent, Franklin Sedoc, claimed
that his one-sided contract extension was not legally valid.
They claimed that Trabelsi actually had the right to leave on a
free transfer in the summer of 2004.
Trabelsi played his last league game for Ajax on 25 February
2004, after which he sustained an injury and disappeared from
the spotlights until 21 April 2004. On that day the player and
his agent announced a lawsuit
against Ajax in order to detemine the legal status of
the contract extension. The session took place on 04 May.
The judge, however, concluded that the case was too much
of a specific 'football-case', declared
himself legally incompetent and forwarded the case to
the KNVB arbitration committee. Ajax and Trabelsi once
again told their versions of the story on 17 May, this
time at the KNVB's headquarters in the Dutch town of
Zeist.
Over there the case took a surprising turn as Trabelsi's
attorney disputed Ajax's claim that the player
and his agent were fully aware of what they were signing
for in July of 2001. It was now claimed that they
were not fully aware of this, as Trabelsi and
his agent only spoke French at the time - and very
limited English. Moreover, stated the player's lawyer,
that they were granted very limited time to take Ajax's
offer into consideration.
Another point not previously brought up was the
claim of Trabelsi's agent that the one-sided option
in the fullback's contract also included a
16% lower salary for the upcoming two seasons.
Ajax denied that Trabelsi would be making less money
in the upcoming years. The club clamied to have offered
him a 16% pay-raise earlier this season, thereby making up
for the salary in the original contract.
After a hearing of 2.5 hours the arbitration committee
announced that a verdict was to be expected in an estimated
three weeks' time. It was finally announced today, but not
before Trabelsi made a series of fierce accusations in an
interview with Dutch football weekly Voetbal
International. He accused Ajax of breaking promises and
claimed that the club is lying in claiming that a 16% pay-raise
was offered to him. The player also stated that Ronald Koeman
"may be a great coach, but he is not a great person." Koeman
replied to these remarks in football talkshow Voetbal
Insite on RTL5 TV by saying that the Tunisian had now
burnt his bridges: "I think there no longer is a way back
for him to to the team."
On 04 June 2004, finally, the KNVB arbitration committee
put Trabelsi in the wrong on every point. Even the player's
secondary claim that, regardless of the eventual verdict,
the professional relationship between Ajax and himself had been
irreparably damaged by the conflict, was dismissed. Trabelsi
was tied to Ajax until 30 June 2006.
The clubs interested in Trabelsi, including Manchester
United and Arsenal, backed off after the verdict. It appeared
that they were only interested in the player if they could land
him for free. In August, however, Arsenal changed their mind
and came up with a reported bid of some 6 million
euros for the right fullback. An agreement between the
clubs was soon reached. However, it appeared that Trabelsi's
personal demands were deemed too high by Arsenal. Once again
the deal seemed to have falled through, but once again new
talks were taking place a few days later. This time it seemed
like the transfer was going to happen, but - with the UEFA
transfer deadline in sight - it turned out that English
authorities were not going to issue the required working permit
for the player.
Ajax then decided that a Trabelsi return was the best option
for all parties and invited Trabelsi over to the ArenA for
talks. The player, however, reported sick the first time and
failed to show up the second time. The distance between Hatem
Trabelsi and Ajax seemed bigger than ever, until coach Ronald
Koeman visited the player in person. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, Ajax USA News Archive
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