Caley happy to bring end to Marius Niculae affair

INVERNESS Caledonian Thistle chairman George Fraser says the Highland club have again been vindicated after a second court ruled they do not have to pay compensation to former player Marius Niculae.

The club's successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December overturned a Fifa decision which had found that the Romanian was due a portion of the e450,000 transfer fee, reportedly around 30 per cent, which took him from Inverness to Dinamo Bucharest in August, 2008.

A separate hearing at which the player was due to appear in Inverness Sheriff Court has now been discharged and the matter is closed.

Fraser told the club's website: "We're extremely pleased to announce final closure on this whole affair. It has been a major distraction for almost three years but the outcome of both cases totally vindicates our stance on the matter.

"We are pleased we will no longer have to defend ourselves in Inverness in relation to a claim for a signing-on fee for a second year of a contract which, as we all know, Marius chose not to fulfil."

Former Sporting Lisbon forward Niculae had one season at Inverness, scoring ten goals in the 2007-08 campaign which won him a recall to the Romanian squad for the 2008 European Championships. Inverness subsequently argued that the player had initiated his own departure and had appeared on the Dinamo website saying he had signed for them when he was still under contract at the Highland club.

Fraser added: "Football agents are often criticised, but it is my firm belief that if Marius had a registered agent then this matter would have been concluded back in August 2008.

"The only winners when matters go to court are the lawyers. Marius chose to go down this route which left us with no option but to defend ourselves against the unfounded accusations. A recognised agent would have very quickly identified the strength of our case and negotiated a sensible conclusion."

Niculae's transfer fee remains a club record.