Top Emirati footballer sues club for dud cheque worth Dh1.9M

The management was very sure that the bank will not pay him the cash without the second signature.”

Haj Al Balushi, lawyer of footballer

abu dhabi — An Emirati footballer has sued his club for “deliberately” issuing him a Dh1.9 million dud cheque.

The famous professional footballer filed a complaint against the manager of the club’s first team and one of its board members, at the Abu Dhabi Misdemeanour Court, alleging that only one official signed the cheque when it needed two signatures.

The prosecutors had charged the club’s management with issuing a bounced cheque.

In the latest hearing, the footballer said the club’s management had issued him a cheque for his salary arrears and benefits, which had only one signature instead of two. The Emirati footballer said the bank rejected his cheque on the grounds that the it lacked the second signatory.

Management ‘well-aware’

He also alleged that the club management handed him the cheque “well aware” that it could not be encashed.

He wasn’t aware that two signatures were required when he received the cheque, he claimed.

The Emirati also said that there were insufficient funds in the club’s bank account.His lawyer, Haj Al Balushi, argued that the club’s management deliberately issued the half-signed cheque to his client to keep him away because he was demanding his delayed salaries and benefits.

“The management was very sure that the bank would not pay him the cash without the second signature,” said the lawyer.

Al Balushi moved a civil suit at the court, demanding compensation for the “material and moral damages” suffered by his client.

Ali Al Mahri, a lawyer representing the football club, said the player didn’t take the cheque to the board member to be signed before taking it to the bank.

The trial was adjourned to October 22.