Zenit St. Petersburg is being sued by Barcelona for the $525K bonus because the Russian clubs were excluded from the Champions League

Zenit is allegedly owed $525,000 by Barcelona due to an obligation in the transfer agreement that allowed Brazil’s Malcom, a winger, to join the Russian team in 2019.

Barça is suing Zenit St. Petersburg in the highest court of sports to recover a bonus that it was not paid after the Russian team was disqualified from the Champions League due to its actions during the invasion of Ukraine.

Zenit is allegedly owed $525,000 by Barcelona due to a stipulation in the transfer agreement that allowed Brazil’s Malcom, a winger, to join the Russian team in 2019.

As part of the agreement, Zenit had to pay Barcelona 490,000 euros ($525,000) every time it advanced to the group stage of the Champions League during a season in which Malcom had participated in at least half of the team’s domestic league games.

Although Zenit had won the local league title to qualify for the competition, FIFA decided last year that Zenit did not have to pay that money after it was barred from the 2022–2023 Champions League season due to a UEFA ban on Russian clubs.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Wednesday that a hearing to settle the dispute has been set on March 22.

In the 2021–22 season, Zenit had their final appearance in the Champions League, where it won 41 million euros ($44 million) in UEFA prize money.

Judge Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe declared in the FIFA verdict that Zenit was not required to “share an economical profit which it never obtained” and that the conflict in Ukraine was a fact “not directly ascribable to (Zenit).”
In August 2019, Barcelona stated that Zenit had agreed to pay Malcom 40 million euros ($43 million) plus future bonuses.

Malcom was sold by Zenit to Al Hilal, a Saudi club, in July of last year for an alleged 60 million euros, or $66 million.