Former Fiji Water Flying Fijians lock Leone Nakarawa has lost his court battle with his former club Racing 92 after the Top 14 club fired him following the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The second-rower sought 1 million euros in compensation from the Parisian club after he was dismissed for failing to return to the club on time after the World Cup in Japan.
Nakarawa flew back to Fiji after the team’s elimination from the tournament and failed to return to France on time, taking an extra 15 days of vacation without the necessary approval, which led to the club terminating his contract.
After failing to win the case the industrial tribunal, Nakarawa appeared before the judges of the Paris Court of Appeal where he claimed that the club had sent him oral authorisation to extend his leave.
Nakarawa’s lawyer Arnaud Dubois says it was legitimate, both in terms of his health and his investment for his employing club, for him to take leave before resuming competition.
However, Paris Court of Appeal judges did not agree and said that Nakarawa had formulated a form of blackmail to return to the club.
The court says it emerges from reading the exchanges of WhatsApp messages communicated that Nakarawa had formulated a form of blackmail by making his return to training conditional on the payment of certain sums.
Nakarawa’s agent had proposed that Racing 92 should fine Nakarawa two months’ salary to avoid the situation being taken to court. The 36-year-old is currently plying his trade with Castres Rugby Club in the French Top 14 competition and is expected to make an appearance against Bayonne this weekend in round 26 of the competition.
Source: Rugby Planet
