Leeds United have lost their Jean-Kevin Augustin appeal and face a €21 million bill as a result.
The Elland Road stadium club were embroiled in a legal battle with RB Leipzig, which went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Now that CAS has ruled that Leeds must pay a significant sum for Augustin, as they were contractually obligated to do.
Leeds had originally agreed to pay €21 million to sign Augustin permanently, if they were promoted, when he was on loan.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic meant the end of that season was delayed, which resulted in Leeds securing promotion a few months after Augustin's loan agreement technically expired
However, CAS ruled that the spirit of the agreement meant that Leeds should have adhered to the deal.
A CAS statement said: “CAS has issued its decision today in the arbitration procedure between Leeds United and RB Leipzig concerning the decision issued on June 1, 2021 by the Single Judge of the Players' Status Committee of FIFA, which upheld RB Leipzig's claim to be paid a transfer fee by Leeds in accordance with the purchase obligation included in the loan agreement concluded between the clubs and the player Jean-Kévin Augustin.
“The CAS panel in charge of the matter has dismissed the appeal filed by Leeds and confirmed the challenged decision in its entirety, including the obligation of Leeds to pay to RB Leipzig the first instalment of the transfer fee, i.e. €6,740,174."
It added: “Following an exchange of written submissions, the CAS panel held a hearing with the parties on March 15, 2022. Further to its deliberations, the panel held the purchase obligation had been triggered at the end of the 2019/20 season, even though the season had concluded later than expected due to the disruption caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and confirmed the challenged decision in full, including the obligation of Leeds to pay to RB Leipzig the first instalment of the transfer fee, the two other instalments being not due yet, at the time of the FIFA procedure."
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