Exclusive | Dejan Damjanovic calls in Fifa in war with Hong Kong’s Kitchee over ‘unpaid bonuses’
- Striker turns to football’s global governing body, saying the club ‘cut my salary without any approval’ after row over his trip to see family
- Hong Kong treble winners insist bonuses were ‘discretionary’ and say there was ‘no outstanding amount due to Dejan’
Dejan Damjanovic will take a long-simmering dispute with Hong Kong treble winners Kitchee to Fifa, football’s global governing body, on Monday after accusing them of withholding bonuses and unfair treatment at the end of his 2½ years with the club.
The Montenegrin striker left Kitchee last month at the end of his contract, concluding a spell that saw him score 61 times in 61 games in all competitions. He helped Kitchee win two Hong Kong Premier League titles as well as the Hong Kong FA Cup and the Senior Shield while also reaching the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League (ACL) for the first time.
But the 41-year-old, who became the ACL’s all-time leading scorer while at the club, departed having been suspended by management since March following a dispute over his unsanctioned three-day holiday to see his family in Europe during the international break last November.
“I asked only for three days to see my family because I hadn’t seen them for four months, and they refused, but I decided I would pay the penalty and go anyway,” Damjanovic told the Post. “I was ready to pay the punishment from the club under my contractual conditions and take unpaid leave.
“I did the same in March last year, when they gave me three days off. I paid that. But this time they said I couldn’t do that and they punished me a really big amount of money. I told them I wouldn’t accept that.