Spartak has big problems: red and white midfielder Mikhail Ignatov could be disqualified for up to six months! It is about his conflict with former agent Alexander Manyakov. Let’s find out what happened between the parties and why Ignatov faces a suspension from football.
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In 2020, Manyakov signed an agency agreement with the Spartak footballer. But a year later, Ignatov decided to terminate the contract with the agent. The red and white player in an interview with Match TV stated that the reason for the dismissal was “zero results,” pointing out that “there was no work.” Manyakov declined to comment, but in February 2023, in an interview with the Football Factory YouTube channel, he suggested that Ignatov may have been influenced by his father. Sports lawyer Vagan Davidyants, who represents the interests of the footballer, argued that the agent did not even contact the former client:
— To understand the essence of the relationship between footballer Mikhail Ignatov and agent Alexander Manyakov, it is enough to say that the contract lasted 45 days, during which the agent was inactive. Detail: The mobile operator’s statements indicate that during all this time the agent never contacted Mikhail, nor even congratulated him on his birthday. Evidently, during the validity of the agreement, Manyakov did absolutely nothing. It was inaction that caused Ignatov to terminate the contract. As for Ignatov’s “living interests” coming from Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04 and Hamburg, with whom he had supposedly established contact, these statements must be attributed to the world of Manyakov’s wild fantasies.
In the summer of 2021, after the termination of the contract, Manyakov demanded 9.5 million rubles from the footballer. The agent appealed to the RFU Dispute Resolution Chamber and lost the first case, but then the Committee on the Status of Footballers sided with Manyakov. After this, Ignatov filed a lawsuit before the Mytishchi court and proved that he was right. In December 2022, the court decided that Manyakov had not lost profits due to the termination of the contract, so Ignatov should not pay him 9.5 million, but this was not the end: Manyakov appealed to the Moscow Regional Court. He decided that Ignatov should comply with the committee’s decision on the status of footballers and pay money to the agent.
Besides. Ignatov filed an application with the court of cassation. After this, Manyakov turned to the RFU, demanding that the player be punished, because, according to the regulations, the Spartak player could not go to a civil court without going through all the instances of the sports grounds (RFU or TAS). and violate the pretrial procedure for dispute resolution.
Mikhail Ignatov
Photo: Dmitry Golubovich, “Championship”
“While the case was being considered in the Mytishchi court, Manyakov appealed to the RFU Dispute Resolution Chamber with a new statement,” said Irina Brzhezovskaya, a lawyer at the interterritorial bar association “Klishin and Partners”, which represents the interests from Ignatov, the other. day. “She says we breached RFU rules on dispute resolution by asking a court of general jurisdiction to take interim measures. That is, they believe that it is an independent action.
Following your logic, the fact that we go to court every time with a power of attorney from Mikhail is a new violation of the rules. Manyakov announced a repeated violation of the rules. This is an unfounded decision. The RFU Chamber suspended this application, but according to our information it will resume next week and a hearing will be scheduled a week later. The requirement is Ignatov’s disqualification for six months for repeated violations of RFU rules. In principle, Mikhail can safely be disqualified already next week. I don’t see any other decision of the chamber, as long as our first cassation decision is what it is. Disqualification is the most serious measure according to the regulations. We are waiting for a summons to the RFU chamber. Therefore, Spartak loses a strong player during the Russian football championship and before its final.”
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Spartak reported in June 2023 that the team was involved in the case as a third party. “The Club provides legal support to Mikhail in this process. Until recently we were not formally involved in the process, but now we are as a third party. We hope for a favorable result for Mikhail,” stated the club’s press service. In September, Spartak also issued a statement regarding the process between Ignatov and Manyakov.
Dmitri Zelenov
head of the Spartak press service
“The statement that is now being discussed speaks of non-compliance with the pre-trial procedure for the resolution of disputes. In June we already said that they would hire us as a third party and we would support the player’s position. We believe that the order was not violated, there was no violation of the regulations. In addition, the regulations provide for an alternative sanction in the form of a fine. “We believe the agent’s demand is unreasonable and should be rejected.”
Sports lawyer Anna Antseliovich notes that it is unlikely that Ignatov will ultimately be disqualified: “I am sure that the agreement between the player and the agent contains a clause stating that disputes are considered by the Mytishchi city court as the final authority. . That is why the player went to court. The CAS refused to consider this case, recognizing that the will and intention of the parties was to send all disputes to the final authority: the state court. As we understand, in the second stage the player went to where the agent himself sent him. The RFU Statutes provide that these cases are resolved within the framework of the RFU disciplinary body system. In my opinion, punishing an athlete for taking advantage of his constitutional right arising from a contractual dispute… Here one can hardly speak of disqualification. It will be very difficult to be disqualified just for going to a court of general jurisdiction.”
Zarema Salikhova, wife of former Spartak owner Leonid Fedun, with her characteristic expressive style accuses the club of having a weak position in the matter with Ignatov.
Zarema Salikhova
wife of Leonid Fedun
“Where is the club’s position regarding its graduated player? Now each agent, in his personal interest, can cause the disqualification of a player. That is, the club’s position is so patiently weak that even Maniakov feels at least like Mina Raiola.”
In 2022, Spartak has already suffered from the player’s disqualification. Keith Balde was left without football for violating the doping control procedure. The Senegalese missed the first half of the 2022/2023 season. Let’s hope that the situation with Ignatov is resolved without the talented Russian player being retired from football.
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