CAS Case Digest · Verified against the full award text

CAS 2024/A/10334 — Ismail Sassi v. Achyronas Onisilos FC

"Sassi" · CAS upheld a French player's claim for EUR 20,750 in unpaid salaries against a Cypriot club, finding unsigned supplementary agreements validly concluded under Swiss law.

Award date	3 June 2025
Panel	Sole Arbitrator: Mr Giulio Palermo, Attorney-at-Law, Geneva, Switzerland
Outcome	Appeal upheld in its entirety; DRC decision set aside; Achyronas Onisilos FC ordered to pay Ismail Sassi EUR 4,250 with 5% yearly interest from 1 April 2023, EUR 4,250 with 5% yearly interest from 1 May 2023, EUR 4,250 with 5% yearly interest from 1 June 2023, EUR 4,000 with 5% yearly interest from 1 July 2023, and EUR 4,000 with 5% yearly interest from 1 August 2023, all until effective payment date.
Provisions	Art. 22(1)(b) FIFA RSTP Art. 2(2) FIFA RSTP Art. 13-18bis FIFA RSTP Art. R47 CAS Code Art. R50 CAS Code Art. R51 CAS Code Art. R54 CAS Code Art. R55 CAS Code Art. R56 CAS Code Art. R57 CAS Code Art. R58 CAS Code Art. R59 CAS Code Art. R44(2) CAS Code Art. R44(3) CAS Code Art. R29 CAS Code Art. R30 CAS Code Art. R41(3) CAS Code Art. R52 CAS Code Art. R64.2 CAS Code Art. 57(1) FIFA Statutes Art. 56(2) FIFA Statutes Art. 15(5) FIFA Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal Art. 1(1) Swiss Code of Obligations (SCO) Art. 11 SCO Art. 13 SCO Art. 18 SCO Art. 104(1) SCO Art. 320(1) SCO Art. 323(1) SCO Art. 8 Swiss Civil Code (SCC) Art. 186(2) Swiss Private International Law Act

What happened in Sassi

French professional footballer Ismail Sassi was loaned from Doxa Katokopias to Cypriot second-division club Achyronas Onisilos FC for the 2022/2023 season. On 15 September 2022, the parties signed a formal Employment Agreement providing only EUR 250 net per month, but the player alleged two additional Supplementary Agreements were also signed that day, providing EUR 4,000 net per month through July 2023 — totalling EUR 42,000 — to compensate for his reduced earnings compared to his Doxa contract. The Club never returned signed copies of the Supplementary Agreements to Sassi. When five months of salary (March–July 2023, totalling EUR 20,750) went unpaid, Sassi filed before FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber, which rejected his claim on 14 December 2023, finding insufficient evidence the Supplementary Agreements had been concluded. Sassi appealed to CAS. The Sole Arbitrator reversed the DRC, holding that under Swiss law no signature is required for an employment contract to be valid, and that the totality of circumstantial evidence — including cheque payments exceeding the Employment Agreement amounts, WhatsApp messages in which Club representatives acknowledged the debt without denial, a teammate's corroborating witness statement, and the Club's own EUR 35,000 loan offer to Doxa — established with comfortable satisfaction that the Supplementary Agreements were validly concluded. The award matters because it confirms that unsigned supplementary salary agreements in football can be enforceable when conduct and surrounding circumstances demonstrate mutual intent.

Procedural history of CAS 2024/A/10334

On 3 November 2023, Sassi filed a claim before FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) seeking EUR 20,750 in unpaid salaries (five months at EUR 4,250 or EUR 4,000 each) plus interest, based on the Employment Agreement and two Supplementary Agreements dated 15 September 2022. On 14 December 2023, the DRC rejected the claim, finding the Supplementary Agreements bore no Club signature, the cheques were untranslated and of unknown origin, and there was insufficient evidence to establish the Supplementary Agreements had been concluded; it held the total Employment Agreement value was EUR 2,000 and that EUR 4,000 already paid exceeded that amount. FIFA notified the parties on 26 January 2024. Sassi filed his Statement of Appeal at CAS on 9 February 2024, simultaneously applying for legal aid, which was granted on 19 September 2024. The Respondent failed to file a written Answer. A video-conference hearing was held on 3 February 2025. The Sole Arbitrator was appointed on 25 November 2024 pursuant to Article R54 of the CAS Code.

Key holdings in CAS 2024/A/10334

Under Swiss law (Articles 11 and 320(1) SCO), individual employment contracts including football player contracts require no written form, and signatures are not a necessary condition for the validity of supplementary salary agreements.
The burden of proving the existence and validity of the Supplementary Agreements rests on the Appellant pursuant to Article 8 of the Swiss Civil Code, but the standard of proof is comfortable satisfaction — greater than balance of probabilities but less than beyond reasonable doubt.
Individually negotiated supplementary agreements concluded contemporaneously with a standard employment contract prevail over a merger/entire-agreement clause (Clause 14(3) of the Standard Employment Contract) that refers only to 'preceding agreements'.
Circumstantial evidence — including payments exceeding the formal contract amount, WhatsApp messages in which Club representatives acknowledged salary obligations without denial, a corroborating witness statement, and the Club's own prior loan offer — can establish with comfortable satisfaction that unsigned supplementary agreements were validly concluded.
Default interest of 5% per annum under Article 104(1) SCO runs from the end of each calendar month in which salary fell due, pursuant to Article 323(1) SCO.

How the CAS panel reasoned

The Sole Arbitrator first resolved the threshold question of whether a signature was required, concluding under Articles 11 and 320(1) SCO that no formal requirement applies to individual employment contracts, and that contract formation turns on congruent offer and acceptance reflecting true common intent (Article 1(1) SCO). He then allocated the burden of proof to the Appellant under Article 8 SCC and applied the comfortable satisfaction standard drawn from CAS 2022/A/8960. Applying Articles 18 SCO interpretive principles, he weighed eleven categories of circumstantial evidence: the existence of unsigned agreements in the same format as the Employment Agreement; the Club secretary's acknowledgment of a pending signed copy; a teammate's corroborating witness statement and similar unpaid-salary experience; WhatsApp exchanges in which Club representatives acknowledged the debt without denial; cumulative cheque payments of EUR 4,000 exceeding the EUR 2,000 total under the Employment Agreement; and the Club's own August 2022 offer to Doxa of EUR 35,000 — a figure only reconcilable by adding the Supplementary Agreement amounts. He rejected the Respondent's arguments: the merger clause in the Standard Employment Contract could not override contemporaneous individually negotiated agreements; the Respondent bore the burden of proving inauthenticity of the loan offer letter and produced no evidence; and the implausibility of a first-division player accepting EUR 250 per month further supported the Appellant's account.

Why Sassi matters in CAS jurisprudence

Sassi establishes that under Swiss law — applicable subsidiarily in FIFA/CAS disputes — unsigned supplementary salary agreements in football are enforceable where circumstantial evidence demonstrates mutual intent with comfortable satisfaction. The award reinforces that clubs cannot defeat salary claims merely by withholding countersigned copies of supplementary contracts, and that individually negotiated agreements concluded contemporaneously with a standard employment contract override entire-agreement clauses referencing only 'preceding' agreements.

Decision: Appeal upheld in its entirety; DRC decision set aside; Achyronas Onisilos FC ordered to pay Ismail Sassi EUR 4,250 with 5% yearly interest from 1 April 2023, EUR 4,250 with 5% yearly interest from 1 May 2023, EUR 4,250 with 5% yearly interest from 1 June 2023, EUR 4,000 with 5% yearly interest from 1 July 2023, and EUR 4,000 with 5% yearly interest from 1 August 2023, all until effective payment date.

Cases cited in this award

CAS 2014/A/3577 FC Vojvodina v. Ralph Serginho Greene CAS 2014/A/3582 S.C. Fotbal Club Otelul S.A. v. Zdenko Baotić, FIFA & RPFL CAS 2014/A/3547 Club Grenoble Football 38 v. Sporting Clube de Portugal CAS 2013/A/3207 Tout Puissant Mazembe v. Alain Kaluyituka Dioko & Al Ahli SC CAS 2022/A/8960 Pyramids FC v. Cristian Benavente Bristol & FIFA

Frequently asked questions about Sassi

Can a footballer enforce an unsigned supplementary salary agreement at CAS?

Yes, according to Sassi. The Sole Arbitrator held that under Articles 11 and 320(1) of the Swiss Code of Obligations, individual employment contracts require no written form and signatures are not a necessary condition for validity. What matters is whether offer and acceptance were congruent, reflecting a true common intent, assessed through all surrounding circumstances.

What evidence did CAS accept to prove the unsigned supplementary agreements existed in the Sassi case?

The Sole Arbitrator relied on eleven categories of circumstantial evidence, including: cheque payments of EUR 4,000 that exceeded the EUR 2,000 total under the formal Employment Agreement; WhatsApp messages in which Club representatives acknowledged the salary debt without denial; a corroborating witness statement from teammate Alastair Davis Reynolds; and the Club's own August 2022 loan offer to Doxa stating it would pay EUR 35,000 — a figure only reconcilable by combining the Employment Agreement and Supplementary Agreement amounts.

Does a merger clause in a standard employment contract override a contemporaneous supplementary salary agreement under Swiss law?

No. In Sassi, the Sole Arbitrator held that Clause 14(3) of the Standard Employment Contract — which stated the Employment Agreement constituted the entire agreement and superseded 'preceding agreements' — could not override the Supplementary Agreements for two reasons: under Swiss law, individually negotiated agreements prevail over incorporated general terms and conditions; and the Supplementary Agreements were contemporaneous, not 'preceding', agreements bearing the same date as the Employment Agreement.

What interest rate applies to unpaid football salaries in CAS proceedings governed by Swiss law?

The statutory default interest rate of 5% per annum under Article 104(1) of the Swiss Code of Obligations applies. In Sassi, the Sole Arbitrator ordered 5% yearly interest on each unpaid monthly salary from the first day of the following month (i.e., the date the debtor fell into default), pursuant to Article 323(1) SCO, which provides that salary is paid at the end of each month unless otherwise agreed.

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Topics: Transfers, agents, TPO & sell-on clauses at CAS

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