SUMMARY
- La Liga club Sevilla FC parted ways with player Joris Gnagnon due to reported issues with his fitness.
- Gnagnon, dissatisfied with Sevilla's decision, appealed to Spanish courts and FIFA, but found no support.
Fitness has always been the key factor in a player’s performance at the highest level in soccer. Any team needs to have their players to be 100% fit and in proper shape to be able to compete on the field. Players that have failed to meet the fitness criteria have faced certain issues in recent times. A similar sort of case has emerged from the La Liga club Sevilla FC.
According to the reports, the club sacked their player Joris Gnagnon for being overweight. The 27-year-old was reportedly given several warnings from the club’s hierarchy regarding his fatness coming in the way of his fitness. However, the player failed to act on the instructions given by the hierarchy of Sevilla.
As a result, the club decided to show him the exit door. Joris Gnagnon, however, hasn’t played much for Sevilla during his stint with the club. He was seldom loaned out to different clubs in Europe by the La Liga side. His loan spells also didn’t do much in terms of getting him back to Sevilla’s playing 11.
Joris Gnagnon’s appeal against the decision of Sevilla FC
Joris Gnagnon went to the Spanish courts and FIFA authorities to assert his complaint regarding the decision taken by his parent club. However, he didn’t get any support from these places. The defender then knocked on the door of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
ℹ️ The Court of Arbitration for Sport rules in our favour in the Joris Gnagnon case.
— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) January 18, 2024
As per the latest reports, the CAS has ruled the case in favor of Sevilla FC. The verdict has been given on the norm of ‘as to the just cause for dismissal’. The La Liga club also posted about the same on their official ‘X’ account. It seems like any ray of hope for Joris Gnagnon to get his place back in the first team has vanished with this verdict by CAS.
The soccer career of Sevilla FC’s Joris Gnagnon so far
The defender has represented France Under 20 and Under 21 teams in his early soccer career. He joined the club in Spain, Sevilla, from the Ligue 1 side Rennes in July 2018. That was the period when Joris was at the peak of his career. His market value was also on the respectable side.
He has played the most games in his career in Ligue 1. Joris played 89 games in the top tier of France soccer. In addition to his defensive contributions, the player also registered three goals and two assists during his time with the French club Rennes.
After joining Sevilla, he only played in seven matches for the club in the 2018-2019 season. He was then loaned back to his former club Rennes. However, when the player returned to the Spanish club after his loan period expired, he didn’t get a chance to play a single match. After the recent ruling of the CAS not going in his favor, it remains to be seen how his soccer career ahead turns out to be.