Emmanuel Eboue only signed for Sunderland earlier this month and hasn’t played a single minute for the Black Cats.
Eboue, 32, may never play for Premier League side either, as FIFA announced on Thursday that the former Arsenal and Galatasaray right back has been banned for one-year.
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FIFA have banned Eboue after it was revealed he did not pay a former agent, even though he was warned and fined back in September 2014 about the ongoing dispute. Eboue appealed against the decision and took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but has lost his battle.
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Sunderland have already intimated that they intend to cancel Eboue’s contract but the Ivory Coast international has two weeks to contest his case and try to keep his contract at the Stadium of Light. He arrived to train with Sam Allardyce’s side in February and signed a contract on Mar. 9 until the end of the 2015-16 season.
Here’s a brief statement from the club:“Sunderland AFC has been advised by the Football Association that Emmanuel Eboue has been placed under an immediate suspension from football and all football-related activity for a period of one year, by FIFA.
“The suspension relates to a monetary dispute between the player and a former agent, which precedes his time at Sunderland AFC and was not something that the club was made aware of by the player. Eboue signed a contract with Sunderland AFC until the end of the current season and the club has therefore given notice of its intention to terminate the contract. The player has two weeks in which to appeal this decision.”
The main issue here is the payment to the agent and if Eboue simply pays up what he owes Sebastien Boisseau, believed to be around $45,000 from an agreement regarding money owed to Boisseau from a transfer back in 2013, then he will not be banned by FIFA and will be eligible to play for Sunderland.
What a mess.
That said, one man in line to prosper from Eboue’s slack admin work is USMNT international DeAndre Yedlin. On loan at Sunderland this season from Tottenham Hotspur, Yedlin, 22, has been the incumbent right back for the Black Cats in recent weeks. Eboue’s arrival as a free transfer in March put Yedlin’s position as a starter in doubt for the final eight games of the season but the former Seattle Sounders star could now be in line to rack up more minutes in the PL.
Let’s see how this all plays out, but Sunderland’s stance of looking to immediately terminate Eboue’s contract does not bode well for the former Arsenal defender.
