Brazilian defender Ricardo Nascimento’s case against Royal AM is still alive despite the fact that the KwaZulu-Natal club was expunged from the PSL earlier this year.
Nascimento took up his contract dispute against Royal AM to FIFA in 2023 after failed attempts to resolve the matter amicably with the club at the end of his 15-month stay.
READ: ‘He would only drink one beer’
The world governing body then ruled in favour of Nascimento with an award of R600 000 (effective September 2023 at an interest of 5% per annum).
Four months later, Royal AM still didn't comply with the FIFA ruling which ordered them to pay and were thus then subsequently handed a three-window transfer ban on January 15, 2024.
The agent who negotiated Nascimento's deal – Marcelo Robalinho – also entered the fray in complicating the case with a claim of 6% commission which he wasn't paid when the defender moved from Mamelodi Sundowns to Royal AM in February 2022.
Robalinho claimed he had an agreement to be paid by the club.
While FIFA no longer has Royal AM on their list of clubs serving transfer ban, this website has been informed by Brazilian attorney Matheus Augusto Bertasso that the case still has a heartbeat.
“The player’s attorneys are now studying other ways to claim the amount due in favour of Ricardo Nascimento since the transfer ban imposed was not sufficient,” confirms Bertasso to KickOff.com Brazil.
Royal AM no longer exist in South Africa’s professional game with their owner Shauwn Mkhize now linked to Eswatini club Mbabane Highlanders.
READ: Downs broom keeps sweeping with seven more pending
Nascimento is now retired following a career in which he won 10 trophies during the five-and-a-half years that he spent at Sundowns.
After his time at Chloorkop, he moved to Royal AM, before returning to his boyhood club Rio Branco Esporte Clube, where he hung up his boots.
Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
