Soccer player Mateo Tanlongo must pay Racing de Santander

The Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Cantabria confirmed the conviction of Argentine soccer player Mateo Tanlongo, who must pay Racing de Santander one million euros for not formalizing the employment contract with the Cantabrian club after receiving an offer from a Danish team.

In a decision notified today and against which an appeal is possible before the Supreme courtthe magistrates rejected the appeal presented by the player against the decision of the Santander Social Court, which in April upheld the sports club’s request to receive compensation for the termination of the contract.

The subject of this lawsuit is the events at the end of August last year when, after talks between the player and his representatives among the members of the sports club, Tanlongo, his father, his representative and a friend traveled to Santander, where the player made a promotional video in the field of career wearing the team shirt and number he had previously chosen.

That same day they agreed to meet a day later to sign the contracts previously exchanged between the parties. But the player and his representatives did not show up for the signing and argued that he had received an offer from another team. The transfer market ended two days later, so Racing de Santander had to find another player in just twenty-four hours.

The trial judge and now the Social Court agreed that the fact that contracts were not signed does not mean that an employment relationship does not exist. The decision explains that the general principle is that there is freedom in the form of contracts and that, in the case of a special employment relationship for professional athletes, “the rule does not establish the need for written form as a necessary component of this contract.”

In the second place, The Court concluded that the player had given his consent to the contract, derived from indications such as the messages exchanged by the player with the technical director and the Racing coach, his choice of number in which he will play for the team, or the emails between Racing de Santander, the representatives of the player and the team he left behind.

Also indicated is the recording of a video introducing the player, the trip he made to Santander with three other people, who came from London and Buenos Aires, and that Karera will cover all expenses.

These indications, together with the testimonies conducted at the trial, led the trial magistrate and now also the Court to see “a logical and reasonable connection between such facts and the fact of the consent given by the player about his agreement.”

Unilateral termination of the contract results in compensation for Career, because “obvious damage has been caused” to the club. To the expenses paid for the travel and stay of the player and his companions, the Chamber added the fact that “the club was forced to sign” another player the day before the end of the transfer market, and that, in addition, suffered of “clear image. damage”, because third parties witnessed the promotional video.

The amount of compensation amounts to one million euros, as stated in the seventh clause for the case of unilateral termination of the player’s contract.