Fulham ordered to pay Marlet money
LYON, France (Reuters) -- The Court of arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ordered Fulham to pay Olympique Lyon $5.79 million in settlement of the controversial transfer of striker Steve Marlet.
"The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejects all the requests made by Fulham," the CAS said in a ruling passed on December 19 in Lausanne and released on Wednesday.
"The Court orders the English premier club to pay 4.573 euros to Olympique Lyon."
French international Marlet moved to Fulham in August 2001 for 18 million euros ($22.81m) but the club refused to pay the last instalment of the transfer fee due in December 2002.
The London club said they withheld the payment because they were unhappy with the role Barcelona-based agents Sebastien and Pascal Boisseau played in the negotiations.
Lyon complained to FIFA who ruled last February that the French club were in the right and that Fulham should pay the remainder of the fee in full.
Fulham appealed against the decision but in March the club's chairman Mohamed Al Fayed was ordered to lodge the amount of the last instalment with London's High Court. The chairman had personally guaranteed the money.
Marlet, who has 14 French caps but who never really settled at Fulham, joined Olympique Marseille on loan in August.
