Barcelona loses legal bid to get Champions League cash bonus from Russian club Zenit

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Barcelona failed in a legal case to get a half million-dollar bonus from Zenit St. Petersburg that the Russian soccer club did not have to pay because it was barred from the Champions League following the invasion of Ukraine.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday it dismissed Barcelona’s appeal against a FIFA ruling last year in a contract dispute over the transfer of Brazilian winger Malcom.

Zenit bought Malcom from Barcelona in 2019 and agreed a clause to pay 490,000 euros ($536,000) each time it qualified for the Champions League group stage in a season where Malcom had played in at least half its domestic league games.

The Gazprom-backed club won the Russian title in the 2021-22 season after UEFA excluded all Russian teams from its competitions because of the military attack on Ukraine.

Barcelona tried to enforce the bonus payment, but a FIFA judge ruled Zenit should not “share an economical profit which it never obtained,” and that the club was not to blame for the invasion.

Zenit later sold Malcom to Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia for a reported 60 million euros (then $66 million).