Nenad Bjelica and NK Osijek settle legal dispute at Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland

Opus Arena, the home ground of NK Osijek (Photo: Roko Poljak/CC BY-SA 4.0)

By Thomas Mustac

The widely publicized court fight between Croatian football club NK Osijek and their former head coach, Nenad Bjelica, is finally over.

More than two years of court hearings and proceedings have finally been brought to a close after the combatants in the battle resolved the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Bjelica is a former professional player, having represented the Croatian national team and as a coach for Spezia (Italy), Trabzonspor (Turkey), Union Berlin (Germany), and most recently for approximately three months, Dinamo Zagreb as well. 

The Background of the Dispute

In August 2022, NK Osijek made the news when they fired Bjelica but would not pay him the severance package worth almost 1.5 million euros, as per the contract.

The club argued that this was permissible because the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) allows clubs to fire players without paying them leave if certain conditions are met.

Osijek’s management accused Bjelica of harming the club’s reputation. The primary claims were based on his failure to meet board member Vladimir Čohar for discussion and some statements he made to the media that were deemed detrimental to the club’s image.

These claims formed the basis of Osijek’s refusal to comply with the severance agreement, and as such, Bjelica had to seek legal redress.

Official Settlement Announcement

After an extensive legal battle, NK Osijek confirmed the resolution in an official statement:

“The management of the Osijek Football Club and the club’s former coach, Nenad Bjelica, reached a settlement this week at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland (CAS). This marks an amicable resolution to the legal proceedings that followed Bjelica’s departure from Osijek in 2022. In accordance with the agreed terms, neither party will provide further public statements regarding the settlement’s details.”

Effects on NK Osijek’s Coaching Strategy in the Future

This lawsuit is settled, and as such, NK Osijek’s leadership can turn its attention to the present coaching structure of the club. The club’s current head coach, Federico Coppitelli, has been reportedly influenced by the prolonged legal distractions.

With the legal matter over, people are already speculating about the possibilities of changes in the coaching staff and future leadership.

This is significant in Croatian Football

This celebrity court case reveals the intricacies of contract disputes within professional football. It spotlights the perfect example regarding the finance and management concerns a club faces when letting go of any coaching staff member, especially someone as well-known as Bjelica, and serves as an example of how both Croatian and European football clubs can deal with these conflicts in the future.

Being one of the most well-known Croatian football cases in law, it says much about the importance of clearly stated contract terms and the place of CAS in resolving professional sporting disputes.