The Qatari defender was sidelined after his comments on social media but his choice to sign for another club has led to legal action.
Leading Qatari football club Al Sadd confirmed it would take legal action against its former player Abdelkarim Hassan after the defender signed with a Kuwaiti team.
In a statement published online, the Qatar Stars League team said Hassan had “unilaterally early terminated his employment contract with Al Sadd FC without any just cause and/or valid reason.”
“Al Sadd FC has therefore already given mandate to their lawyers to take all the relevant legal actions against the player/Abdul Karim Hassan and any third club for protecting their own image and interests,” the statement added.
The left-back was dropped from Al Sadd after rising criticism over his dedication to the Qatari football team following its early World Cup exit. When questioned on Snapchat by a frustrated fan following Qatar’s exit from the tournament, the footballer nonchalantly said, “Calm down. Do you think this is a war?”
Hassan, the 2018 Asian Footballer of the Year, additionally faced indefinite suspension along with a deduction of 50 percent of his salary and a fine of QR200,000 earlier this month by Qatar Football Association.
Al Sadd Sports Club had also taken action announcing on Twitter that the player was “excluded from the team permanently”.
Hassan had won many league titles for his dominant home club as well as the 2019 Asian Cup for his country.
However, after the exclusion from club and country, he was reportedly travelling around the region, making an appearance in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he trained under the supervision of Majed Al-Ali at his gym.
According to rumours spread online, Saudi clubs were interested in him but there was some confusion because his contract with Al Sadd wasn’t officially over.
However, a move to Kuwait’s Al Jahra club was completed last week.
Al Jahra itself is a newly promoted side to the first division of Kuwaiti football and the transfer was made possible by an unnamed benefactor.
“I was wronged but I don’t want to talk about this subject. I am now an Al-Jahra player and I’m fully focused (on the team) in the upcoming period,” said Abdelkarim Hassan.
Despite reports of the deal’s illegality, Al-Jahra president Khaled Al-Hussaini, who is a lawyer himself, said the signing was fully legal.
The defence Al Jahra has is based on the tweet where the player was announced to be excluded.
Still, the tweet does not clarify whether the player’s contract was terminated, and therein lies the confusion, with many observers stating that Al-Jahra’s signing will contravene FIFA regulations and could invite fees and sanctions for both the Kuwaiti club and Abdelkarim himself.
