Club was ordered by the Beja Labor Court to compensate player registered as an amateur, who defined himself as a professional. Évora Court of Appeal confirmed decision.
The Social Section of the Court of Appeal of Évora (THREE) confirmed the decision of the Beja Labor Court that condemned the União Serpense Football Club to pay 6.921,83 euros to player Luíz Fernando Erkman, that despite being registered as an amateur, was considered as a professional who lived exclusively on his salary as a footballer.
In 31 August 2021, the player received an invitation letter and a liability waiver, signed by Alfredo Mestre, the club president, to declare the invitation for the athlete to play as a professional footballer for União Serpense, which competed in the Beja Football Association competitions (A.F.Beja), during the season 2021/22 and where the conditions that Luíz Fernando Erkman, then with 20 year old, would enjoy in Serpa.
The player of Brazilian origin, played only the first two months of the season 2021/22 for the Alentejo club, having terminated the contract due to unpaid wages and filed a case with the Labor Court, that gave you reason.
The judge who judged the case ordered União Serpense to pay 5.020 euros, as remuneration due since October 2021 to May 2022, 665 euros from the Christmas allowance and 705 euros of holiday bonus and more 531,83 euros of late payment interest on the three installments.
The club appealed to the TRE, but the Counselor Judges decided “to dismiss the appeal as unfounded, and confirm the aggravated decision” taken by the Beja Labor Court. The judges ruled that the player was a professional, shielded in the Regulations of the Portuguese Football Federation which defines that: the registered player ate amateur aufira, with a regularity, an amount that exceeds the cost of representing the club, is considered, as a professional player.
At the beginning of the season 2022/23 União Futebol Clube Serpense withdrew from competing in the district of the 1st division of A.F.Beja. The club registered only one player and was absent from the first two rounds of the competition, being eliminated from the test. Subsequently, Serpa City Council denounced the protocols it had with the club's emblem, which was founded in 5 July 2019, having been presented as a project that would serve as a “showcase for young players from Brazil”.
Luiz Fernando Erkman, plays this season for Dragões Sandinenses, club that competes in the Elite Division of the Porto Football Association.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
