Shakhtar Donetsk accuse Fulham of reneging on a £6.8m deal after FIFA ruling

Shakhtar Donetsk have slammed Fulham and accused them of reneging on a £6.8million deal for winger Manor Solomon.

The Israeli international joined the Cottagers on a one-year-deal this summer after a FIFA rule was extended that allowed Ukrainian-based foreign players to suspend their contract and temporarily go elsewhere without penalty.

The ruling came into place when the Ukrainian season was suspended in March due to the ongoing war in the country and will now remain in place for the entire 2022-23 season.

The Israeli winger joined Fulham this summer after a FIFA ruling was extended that allows foreign players to temporarily suspend their contracts with Ukrainian clubs

However, Shakhtar had been negotiating an exit for Solomon throughout the summer and claim they had agreed a £6.8m fee with Marco Silva’s side before the FIFA ruling which means Fulham signed Solomon for nothing.

Fulham had reportedly agreed a £6.8m fee for Solomon before taking him for nothing instead

The deal, which would have been a financial lifeline for Shakhtar and deliver a vital cash injection to a club who have had their accounts battered by the war with Russia, has caused much anger from the 13-time Ukrainian champions.

‘They just talk about the football family,’ Shakhtar chief executive Sergei Palkin told the New York Times. ‘But in real life there is no football family.’

The anger surrounding Solomon has not been helped by Lyon doing something similar with exciting Brazilian midfielder Tete, after the club had agreed a fee worth double Solomon’s proposed sale for the 22-year-old.

Like Fulham, the French side reportedly informed Palkin that they were scrapping the multi-million pound deals after the FIFA ruling and would instead take the player for nothing.

A Lyon spokesperson said the club disputed Palkin’s recounting of events, but declined to provide details, while Fulham declined to comment.

While both teams abided by the rules which allows foreign stars who no longer understandably wish to return to Ukraine to move elsewhere, it has created resentment at Shakhtar.

A similar situation happened with Lyon and the signing of Shakhtar’s 22-year-old winger Tete

Shakhtar announced earlier this summer that they would sue FIFA for £43m worth of damages

The club announced in July that they will sue FIFA for £43m in damages which they say is the value of transfer fees they have missed out on due to the ruling being extended.

The frustration for Palkin is that it is a long way from all the support and solidarity Shakhtar received when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine initially began, while he has been left with a bitter taste for the way some clubs have treated sides like his.

This has been demonstrated with Lyon reportedly recently offering Shakhtar £2.54m for Tete which is less than 20 per cent of what the Ukrainian club believe they had agreed on a fee for him earlier in the summer.

Palkin, who turned down the Ligue 1 side’s offer, said: ‘It’s ridiculous. It’s peanuts. It’s not respectful from FIFA or the clubs.’

FIFA claim their position of extending the ruling and allowing players to play elsewhere temporarily is better than alternative measures such as players breaking their contracts.

But, with no sign of an end to the war, it looks unlikely that these foreign players will ever play for their Ukrainian clubs again.