Benfica Demand Ex-Coach Jorge Jesus Pay Damages
Benfica are also refusing to pay 61-year-old Jorge Jesus his salary for June on the grounds that their Lisbon rivals officially hired him on June 5 on a three-year deal.
Portuguese giants Benfica are demanding EUR7.5 million ($8.3m) compensation from former coach Jorge Jesus who joined bitter rivals Sporting Lisbon in June, a club official told Portuguese daily Expresso on Monday.
Jesus "unilaterally terminated the contract that bound him to the club and must pay the required compensation," club spokesman Joao Gabriel said.
Benfica are also refusing to pay 61-year-old Jesus his salary for June on the grounds that their Lisbon rivals officially hired him on June 5 on a three-year deal.
Jesus "did nothing irregular. In June, before leaving on vacation, he ensured his future career and signed a contract with effect from July 1", his lawyer Luis Miguel Henrique said late Monday.
According to press reports, Jesus will be paid an annual salary of EUR6 million at Sporting, two million more than he received with Benfica where he coached for six years.
During his six-year spell at Benfica, Jesus guided them to three league crowns, including the last two, becoming the first Benfica coach since Sven-Goran Eriksson in the early 80s to achieve successive championship successes.
Sporting -- for whom Jesus's father played and where he himself came through their youth system -- won the Portuguese SuperCup title on August 9, beating Benfica 1-0.
Benfica have won the league title a record 34 times, with Sporting 18-time champions.
Sporting host CSKA Moscow on Tuesday in a Champions League play-off first leg fixture.