Marseille win Flamini appeal

FIFA decision overturned
The Lausanne-based court cancelled a FIFA Players' Status Committee decision issued in August when the 20-year-old left Marseille against the wishes of the Ligue 1 side. "The Court of Arbitration found faulty drafting in the FIFA decision and stated that they were not qualified enough to make a decision," said Marseille in a statement.

Next steps
Marseille now intend to "use all the existing juridical means to assert our claims, notably to establish that Mathieu Flamini was not allowed to sign a contract with Arsenal." Flamini, a former Marseille trainee, made 14 first-team appearances last season but was not under contract, meaning Arsenal believed they could sign him for €480,000 compensation. Marseille now hope to force Flamini to return to France - or at least to be fairly recompensed for the player.