Green Light For Athirson to Join Juventus
Friday 26th January 2001
Fifa have finally intervened in the bitter dispute between Juventus and
Flamengo over Athirson by granting the �10 million-rated Brazilian wing-back
a temporary transfer to the Serie A club.
In what is likely to prove a decisive development, Fifa have given Athirson
permission to start training with the Juventus first team and confirmed he
can play in their League game with Vicenza on Sunday.
The two clubs have been wrangling over the highly-rated youngster since last
year, when his contract ran out with Flamengo.
In August, Athirson signed a deal with Juve that would have seen him move to
Italy for a bargain �2 million. However, unknown to the player, his former
agent Marlene Mattos had negotiated a new five-year contract with Flamengo.
Both sides claimed Athirson belonged to them and the Brazilian club were
especially incensed at Juventus, given that they claimed to have rejected
several offers of �10 million for the player.
Athirson himself declared his desire to join the Italian giants. "The only
thing that I want is to play for Juventus - they are the only team I have
signed for," he said when his previous Flamengo contract ran out in
December.
