Former Kaizer Chiefs striker Samir Nurkovic has found himself in the centre of a contractual saga with Royal AM that has been referred to FIFA.
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Nurkovic's lawyer, Serbian-based Davor Lazic, has confirmed that the basis of their case to FIFA is that AM have terminated his client's contract on the basis of him being injured.
The saga has taken a new twist, where the KwaZulu-Natal side allege, according to Lazic, that Nurkovic was actually not officially their player.
The Serbian lawyer was asked whether Nurkovic went through a medical assessment before signing a contract at Royal AM and he confirmed that even if he didn't go through a medical process, AM would still have no grounds to terminate his contract due him being injured.
"Of course, you do that as a club you know, you always do it and even if he wasn't, that would be the club's mistake," Lazic said in an interview on Marawa Sports World Wide.
"But, yes he was and he didn't come there injured, he got himself injured during the training matches or training with Royal (AM).
"But then again that's not actually the issue, because even if he was sick, even if he was injured that would not be enough for the club's decision to terminate the contract," he said.
"You cannot even cut the salary because the guy is injured, that's what happens in football, some guys gets injured, you have insurance, there is a risk," he added.
Soccer Laduma looks at the FIFA guidelines on termination of contract for medical reasons.
According to Article 18 (4) of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfers of Players (FIFA RSTP): "The validity of a contract may not be made subject to successful medical and/or the grant of a work permit."
The responsibility to do medical examinations lies with the club, as contained in the paragraph which states; "A club wishing to employ a football player has to exercise due diligence and carry out all relevant medical examination prior to entering into employment contract with the player."
However, the protection offered by Article 18 (4) of FIFA's RSTP does not extend to transfer and/or loan agreements, the validity of which can thus, conditioned to the successful passing of medical examinations by the player.
So Nurkovic was not going to have such protection if he was transferred or loaned from Chiefs and had his contract invalidated on the basis of not passing a medical examination (although that would mean falling back on a contract at the parent club).
The Serbian forward joined AM as a free agent after his contract was not renewed at the Glamour Boys at the end of last season.
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