Elite Law represented before the Basketball Arbitration Tribunal (BAT) a leading Greek Euroleague club in a dispute that arose following the dismissal of its coach, a former world-renowned basketball player, and his staff.
The peculiar aspect of the dispute was the interpretation of a clause in the contract, inserted by the club to encourage locally trained youngsters to join its first team, and the club’s right to raise a serious and persistent breach of that clause to dismiss the coach.
As for his assistants, the validity and effectiveness of a clause inserted in their contracts whereby any case of termination by the club of the working relationship with the coach would be an automatic cause for termination of the contractual agreements between the parties.
The BAT held, in accordance with the ex aequo et bono standard of appreciation used by the tribunal, that the club’s failure to issue a prior notice of termination did not put the coach in a position to know that his breach was of a serious nature to the club. However, considering the circumstances proven by the club, it held that it could reduce the coach’s damages by taking into account the average salaries earned and to be earned after leaving the club and by 50 percent with respect to the assistants for failing to mitigate their damages following their dismissal.
