The case revolves around a dispute between FC Astana, a Kazakh football club, and Hungarian player Laszlo Kleinheisler, along with his subsequent employer, Croatian club NK Osijek. The conflict stemmed from the termination of Kleinheisler's contract with FC Astana in January 2019, following the club's failure to pay a €100,000 "encouragement fee" as stipulated in his contract. Kleinheisler filed a claim with FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), which ruled in his favor in February 2020, ordering FC Astana to pay €940,500 in compensation. FC Astana appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), leading to further legal proceedings.
During the CAS proceedings, the parties engaged in settlement discussions and reached a preliminary agreement during a videoconference hearing on November 26, 2020. The final settlement, signed the same day, required FC Astana to pay Kleinheisler €800,000 in three installments: €150,000 by December 1, 2020, €325,000 by April 15, 2021, and the remaining €325,000 by June 15, 2021. In return, Kleinheisler and NK Osijek waived all further claims, and FC Astana withdrew its counterclaim for €3,726,694. The parties requested the CAS to formalize the settlement into a consent award to ensure enforceability.
The CAS Panel, composed of arbitrators from Spain, Switzerland, and the UK, reviewed the agreement to confirm its compliance with legal principles, public policy, and good faith. Finding no objections, the Panel issued a consent award on January 27, 2021, ratifying the settlement and terminating the arbitration. The award replaced the earlier FIFA DRC decision and rendered all other claims moot. This case underscores the CAS's role in facilitating dispute resolution in sports, particularly in employment disputes, while emphasizing the enforceability of settlements under Swiss law and CAS procedural rules. The consent award provided a definitive conclusion, allowing the parties to move forward without further litigation.