Sporting Lisbon have as expected threatened to refer Daniel Podence to FIFA for signing at Olympiacos, but FWS.gr clarifies that this is done on purpose for the Piraeus club to pay up and avoid the hassle.
In practice Sporting stand no chance of winning the case, and that is for two reasons.
The first concerns the player’s desire to leave after the invasion of Sporting’s supporters at the training center and the attack on several players.
The second reason regards the fact that if Sporting take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) they will run into Sofoklis Pilavios. The former head of τηε Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) is now a judge in the supreme court for sports cases. As FWS.gr has written, Pilavios was appointed there by UEFA Secretary General Theodoros Theodoridis, whom many people view as the man pulling the strings in global football.
The only court which Sporting can resort to is CAS. If they do, it will be for one reason only: To force Olympiacos to pay some money, in case they lose the battle at CAS.
