Divock Origi (left) celebrates scoring for Lille in the UEFA Europa League. PHOTO/File
LONDON, June 15- Lille have been ordered to pay Genk £215,000 (Sh32,501,281.25) for the 2010 transfer of Divock Origi.
The Belgium forward, now with Liverpool, began his footballing education in his homeland with Genk, leaving them at the age of 15 before signing youth terms with Ligue 1 side Lille.
Genk appealed to FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber seeking a training compensation fee but were denied as they had not offered a contract to Origi before his departure.
FIFA’s transfer regulations state that: “If the former club does not offer the player a contract, no training compensation is payable unless the former club can justify that it is entitled to such compensation.
“The former club must offer the player a contract in writing via registered post at least 60 days before the expiry of his current contract.”
Genk, though, successfully argued to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that they could not offer Origi a contract under Belgian law because he was under the age of 16 at the time.
A CAS statement read: “The arbitration body has calculated the amount of the training compensation due and has ordered the payment of £215,000 from LOSC Lille Metropole to KRC Genk.”
The forward is a son of former Kenya international striker, Michael Origi Okoth and chose to declare for Belgium and played for them at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
-Sky Sports
