Cabanas to take America to CAS
Reuters - Thursday 02 December 2010, 04:07
ASUNCION - Former Paraguay striker
Salvador Cabanas, shot in the head in a Mexico City bar
in January, will take his ex-club America to the Court for
Arbitration in Sport (CAS) over pay he claims they owe him,
lawyers said on Wednesday.
Cabanas, who is also claiming costs for his
rehabilitation, suffered a setback earlier this week when a
Mexican Football Federation (FMF) tribunal ruled in favour of
America over the issue, saying the attack was outside the
player's working environment.
"We lost in the first instance, now we're going to
appeal," lawyer Gerardo Acosta told reporters.
"We had no hope of winning in Mexico but we have
sufficient hopes and arguments to turn this case around at the
tribunal for arbitration in sport in Switzerland."
Acosta said America had not arranged medical cover for
Cabanas. "It's obligatory and he wasn't covered."
However, FMF spokesman Francisco Rocha said: "For us, the
affair is over, the club are freed of any obligation because
the other party couldn't prove it was a work accident."
Paraguayan media said the amount of money Cabanas is
claiming from America is about $1.3 million.
His wife, Maria Alonso, said recently they barely had
enough money to see the family through December and called on
Cabanas's former agent Jose Gonzalez to provide documents
proving the two men had joint business deals.
Cabanas, 30, had signed a contract with America until
2012, according to Gonzalez.
The player, who had been set to go to the World Cup in
South Africa with the Paraguay team in June, was shot in an
alleged argument over his form and that of America in the
Mexican league.
Cabanas, who survived the attack but still has the bullet
lodged in his brain, was moved from a Mexico City hospital
after a month to a Buenos Aires clinic. He has since returned
home to Paraguay.