MOSCOW, July 6 CSKA and football player Mario Fernandez agreed in winter about the actual termination of the contract, but at the same time they entered into a gentleman's agreement not to announce this, despite the fact that Fernandez promised to play in Russia only for the army team, said Kirill Breido, director of communications for the Moscow club.
Earlier, a source said that Fernandez will go to the St. Petersburg «Zenith» and will receive 2 million euros per year. The agent of the football player Jorge Machado said that it was he who decided to stop negotiations on returning to CSKA, and not the player. According to the newspaper «Sport-Express», «Zenith» turned to Fernandez after the refusal of the army.
«We see some comments about 'cheating on the part of the club' and we consider it necessary to give a detailed explanation on Mario's contract. In the summer, Mario asked the club to allow him to end his career, despite the current agreement. We managed to convince him not to make hasty announcements and stop on «career suspension» and «contract suspension». Legally, at that time, this was formalized as a vacation until December 31, 2022,» Breido's official Telegram channel said in a statement.
“In the winter, Mario expressed a desire to resume his career, but without intending to return to Russia. Further, as part of our gentlemen’s agreement and the club’s insurance, a joint decision was made to actually terminate the contract regarding significant salary obligations. The essence of our gentlemen’s agreement is simple: in Russia, Mario will play only for CSKA. Naturally, without any additional payments and compensation,» the functionary added.
According to Braido, it was unprofitable for CSKA to tell the whole world that Fernandez was a free agent.
““The club did not report that Mario had a valid contract with CSKA, but always referred to gentlemen's agreements. Of course, it was not profitable for the club to correct Transfermarkt and declare to the whole world that, in fact, Mario is a free agent. Today together with you, we learned the details that clarified a lot about the course of our difficult negotiations. Much of this is unpleasant to realize, but the club has never had the desire to deceive our fans. But you need to understand that there are often legal subtleties that, based on the interests of the club at a certain stage cannot be taken out in the media,» summed up Breido.