In the ongoing legal dispute with Olimpija Ljubljana, 1. FC Köln accuses the other side of attempted fraud and has therefore filed a criminal complaint.
The 1. FC Cologne In the ongoing legal dispute with Olimpija Ljubljana, accuses the other side of attempted fraud and has therefore filed a criminal complaint. The Bundesliga soccer team announced this on Tuesday.
The complaint is directed against three representatives of the Slovenian club; the Cologne public prosecutor’s office has now confirmed the initial suspicion and initiated a criminal investigation. The public prosecutor’s office confirmed this in response to a SID request.
Transfer ban imposed
The point of contention between the two clubs is the signing of the then 16-year-old Slovenian young striker Jaka Potocnik by Cologne in January 2022. From the Bundesliga club’s point of view, the player had previously legally terminated his contract in Ljubljana, but the Slovenians accused the FC of inciting a breach of contract and complained to the world association.
He imposed a transfer ban on Cologne over two substitution periods and also banned Potocnik for four months. However, the FC is fighting this decision before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which initially suspended the penalties at the end of May.
“Attempted Fraud”
The oral hearing took place in Lausanne in September. According to Cologne, the witnesses named by Ljubljana “entangled themselves in contradictions” and “partially refuted the facts presented in writing.”
Olimpija Ljubljana is trying to “obtain an unjustified amount of damages” based on “false statements of facts.” The criminal complaint was therefore filed shortly after the hearing “due to a possible attempted fraud to the detriment of 1. FC Köln”.
Legal experts on the Cologne side
The FC sees its position strengthened after the CAS hearing. Among other things, the former president of Olimpija Ljubljana confirmed the facts presented by the Cologne team, saying that Potocnik had “not broken his contract, but had legally terminated it”.
Verbal promises that the player received in Ljubljana were binding; this was confirmed by legal experts from Switzerland and Slovenia, according to information from Cologne. It is still unclear when the CAS will make a decision.
