Gonzalo Higuain Loses Court Case Against Former Club Napoli Over €600,000 in Image Rights
Gonzalo Higuain has lost his court case against Napoli over his image rights in the 2015-16 season, Gazzetta dello Sport have reported.
The Argentine striker began the dispute after claiming he was owed €600,000 in image rights for his final season with the club.
Gazzetta claim that Higuain has "lost arbitration", after his Spanish lawyers failed to submit the private agreement in which the player claimed the payments.
Higuain's dispute has been with Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentii, who earlier this year explained the complexities surrounding the former Real Madrid forward's image rights.
“When I bought Higuain it was very complicated, because Real Madrid only held 50 per cent of the rights," he said in March, quoted by Football Italia.
“Players have no legal training and they don’t understand contracts. Why bother keeping their image rights? They don’t know what to do with them.
“How can we allow sport companies to negotiate them when they don’t know what they’re doing? Isn’t it absurd?
TURIN, ITALY - MAY 29: Gonzalo Higuain of FC Juventus in action during the FC Juventus Media Day at Juventus Stadium di Torino on May 29, 2017 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Valerio Pennicino/GettyImages
“The lads have a contract with the club, so you should negotiate directly with the club.
“I understand that 99 per cent of clubs aren’t structured like a business, they’re managed by employees, who have a very different culture. I'd like to buy a Spanish club. I believe 100 per cent in a club run like a business."
Higuain accused De Laurentiis of holding back dues from image rights sales and took his case to the league. He reportedly informed the president that he would be leaving for Juventus at the end of the 2015-16 season a month before the deal was confirmed.
