Napoli suspects Chelsea of tapping up Kalidou Koulibaly
By George Perry
Chelsea’s legal woes may continue as Napoli’s president accuses the English club of attempting to tap up transfer target Kalidou Koulibaly.
The ink is barely dry on the Eva Carneiro settlement and Chelsea’s legal team may be gearing up for another defensive action. Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis told the Italian press that Kalidou Koulibaly’s recent comments hint at behind-the-scene machinations between Chelsea and the Napoli defender.
If those links are proven, De Laurentiis is prepared to sue Chelsea for the loss of merchandising revenue that he believes the team will suffer as a result of the transfer rumors stemming from Koulibaly’s remarks.
Kalidou Koulibaly all but closed the books on his time at Napoli last week. The Senegalese defender told L’Equipe “clubs of a high standing want me and I’ve had no sign from Napoli,” adding “negotiation is dead.”
De Laurentiis sees the hand of Chelsea in all this, saying he was “disappointed” in the player he calls “a good man.”
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Tapping up is not illegal in the courts, but football associations forbid contact between off-the-books contacts between a club and players or agents’ under contract to other teams. Napoli’s legal cause of action would stem from the impact that Koulibaly’s statements have on their projected revenue from sponsorship and merchandise deals involving Koulibaly’s name and likeness.
Even if Koulibaly and Napoli come to terms for the defender to stay, Koulibaly jersey sales and other merchandise will likely decrease as fans will see him as uncommitted and unworthy of their emotion and expense.
"Napoli were about to sign new commercial deals to use Koulibaly’s image, but his statements cancelled those opportunities. His jersey cannot be sold now…. He created damages worth millions of Euros and I have specialists studying the issue now. – Aurelio De Laurentiis (Corriere Dello Sport) [/blockquote]"
Chelsea are no strangers to tapping up suits, having been sanctioned twice in high-profile cases. In 2006, the Football Association penalized the club, then-manager Jose Mourinho, defender Ashley Cole and Cole’s agent Jonathan Barnett for a tapping up scheme that brought Cole to the club from Arsenal.
Mourinho, Cole, Barnett and another agent met in a London hotel without Arsenal’s knowledge in January 2005. While Cole subsequently signed a contract with Arsenal, the clandestine meeting ultimately led to the defender’s arrival at Chelsea in August 2006.
Three years later, FIFA imposed an unprecedented two-year transfer ban on Chelsea for tapping up Gael Kakuta from French club Lens in 2007. FIFA also levied fines against Chelsea and Kakuta to compensate Lens for the breach of contract.
Chelsea immediately appealed the decision on legal technicalities in Kakuta’s last contract with the Ligue 1 side. Chelsea reached an agreement in late 2009 to pay Lens financial compensation. The Court of Arbitration in Sport ratified the agreement, which removed the ban and allowed Chelsea to enter the 2010 transfer market.
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Koulibaly has played for Metz (France) and Genk (Belgium) before joining Napoli in 2014. He has 60 appearances for the Serie A side in addition to six caps for Senegal. As a center-back he would likely replace John Terry, and would add versatility and strong ball movement to Chelsea’ back-line.