Depending on the outcome, African Nations Cup winner and Egyptian Essam El-Hadary might be the first successful player to invoke the Webster ruling.  After playing at Egyptian powerhouse Al-Ahly since 1996, El-Hadary decided he’d had enough and deserved an opportunity to play in Europe, with Swiss destination FC Scion first choice.

The problem though is Al-Ahly feel they still have “The Beast” under contract and the player is still theirs.  FC Scion on the other hand have announced the signing, saying that the player has paid compensation to the Egyptian club, in the neighborhood of $400,ooo and the equivalent to the last two years on his contract.

Another sticky issue, El-Hadary is 35 years old and the first CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) ruling was for players under 25 years of age.  This one is going to get real interesting quick and the outcome will definitely set the tone for the future of domestic football/soccer worldwide.

image via AlJazeeraSport