Although the Court of Arbitration of Sport has decided that belongs to French club Strasbourg, Ismaili is not giving up on its star footballer, reports Inas Mazhar The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has asked FIFA to issue an international transfer certificate to the CAS which will then send it to French second division side Strasbourg, which recently won the rights to Ismaili player and Egyptian international . As a result of the decision, Ahli now has the right to own Abd Rabou since he signed a contract with Ahli when he was in the French club last year. Ahli will be allowed to finalise the deal with Strasbourg after Ismaili pulled out of the tussle. Ismaili officials acknowledge they have no chance after CAS issued its ruling but believe they can appeal again. Abd Rabou, selected the best player at the African Nations Cup in Ghana 2008, now legally belongs to Ahli. And that is making Ismaili furious. Abd Rabou becomes the ninth player from Ismaili to join Ahli including Islam El-Shatter, Mohamed Barakat, Emad El-Nahhas, Ahmed Fathi, Sayed Moawad, Mohamed Abdullah and Ahmed Hassan. The player himself has repeatedly said he wants to play for Ismaili despite signing for Ahli, but that could be because he is concerned by the sometimes violent behaviour of Ismaili supporters who burnt his car and threw stones at his home in the village of Abu Seir, in Ismailia, after he signed for rival Ahli. Ahli is satisfied with the verdict, and seeks to make peace with Ismaili club officials and the fans. The idea now is to let the player play for Ismaili or any other club on loan for a season until the issue dies down, then summon the player again to join Ahli. The only hitch is that Ahli officials need the approval of the team's head coach, the Portuguese Manuel Jose, who wants the player on his team. Abd Rabou's story started on 25 May 2005 when Ismaili and RCSF signed a transfer contract regarding the transfer of the player from Ismaili to RCSF as from the 2005/2006 football season, for a compensation of 1,100,000 euros. On 8 August 2005, the player and the RCSF signed an employment contract for the four following football seasons, valid until the end of the season 2008/2009. Under the article of the transfer contract, the agreed fee paid by RCSF to Ismaili was as follows: 400,000 euros on 15 July 2005, 400,000 euros on 31 January 2006 and 300,000 euros on 15 July 2006. The first two agreed payments were made by RCSF on their due dates. On 28 July 2006, the parties and the player concluded a loan agreement under which RCSF loaned the player to his former club Ismaili for the duration of the season 2006/2007. It took the CAS almost eight months to reach a verdict. The first hearing was held on 28 February 2008 at the Hotel de la Paix in Lausanne. The verdict as read on the CAS web site, is 38 pages long.
