In a ruling that nobody expected a Serie A arbitration panel has ruled that Antonio Cassano has to remain a Sampdoria player after they stopped the club from tearing up his contract.
Sampdoria have been trying to get rid of Cassano for a couple of months since he insulted chairman Riccardo Garrone. A host of Serie A teams were lining up to sign Cassano once he was freed from his Sampdoria contract, but the panel’s ruling put an end to that idea.
“The arbitration panel has ruled to suspend Antonio Cassano from training and from receiving wages until January 31, 2011,” Sampdoria said in a statement. “To reduce the player’s wages to 50 percent from February 1, 2011 until June 30, 2013, the date when his sporting contract ends. For Antonio Cassano to pay the legal costs involved in the proceedings.”
This I don’t think is the end of the story. Sampdoria don’t want Cassano back and with the January transfer window right around the corner I expect to see Cassano sold to one of the Milan teams or Juventus.