David Ginola could become the first player to seek release from his contract using "sporting just cause", part of FIFA's new transfer regulations, after making it clear he is willing to take legal action to end his stay at Aston Villa.
Under the statutes agreed last month at FIFA's world congress in Buenos Aires, a player is allowed to go to a tribunal if he is in serious dispute with his manager. Ginola, who has 12 months left on his contract, has had a troubled relationship with John Gregory since he joined Villa last summer, and further recent comments by Gregory about the player's weight prompted Ginola to consult employment lawyers and the Professional Footballers' Association.
"He feels he's reached the end of his tether at Aston Villa because of the way he's been treated and he sees little point in having another year at the club under such circumstances," said Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the PFA.
Under FIFA's new regulations a player can take a case centred on "sporting just cause" to a domestic, continental or world football tribunal, and it is thought Ginola will look to the domestic avenue.
"I was hoping things could be resolved at club level but that does not appear to be the case," said Taylor, who said he had not heard back from Villa since last week. Ginola's lawyers have briefed the British Prime Minister's wife Cherie Booth, a leading employment barrister.
Ginola, who started only 14 Premiership games last season, was upset by Gregory's remarks last December that he looked "overweight" and was "carrying a bit of timber in terms of body fat".
In June Gregory said his players had returned looking "fit as a butcher's dog" but added: "Well, in David's case, let's say that description would depend on which butcher's shop you go to." Taylor said Ginola had concluded that his treatment amounted to "constructive dismissal".
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