Already in the middle of last year, just before her daughter’s 18th birthday, Tomasz Swiatek – then still her legal representative – decided to terminate the contract with the Warsaw Sports Group management agency, which financially supported the development of Iga. The parting was not finished in a friendly manner and the case ended up in court.
– The lawsuit has been filed, we are waiting for the hearing date – says Artur Bochenek, head of WSG. – We believe that the contract, like any contract, could be terminated, but we were entitled to a specific compensation according to the provisions, emphasizes Bochenek. The other side strikes back and … also filed a lawsuit. The defendant is WSG. – The statement of claim concerns confirmation by the court of the fact that the contract is not bound with WSG, at least from the end of May 2019, and the full effectiveness of the termination of the contract with WSG by Iga Świątek for reasons attributable to WSG. Including, among others because of the unreliability of WSG in financial settlements and charging Iga with costs not related to her training and inconsistent with the contract – Jarosław Chałas, representing the tennis player, told Super Express. The player’s representative also announced that he would raise the issue of the invalidity of the contract in court due to the presence of prohibited clauses in it.
Iga’s team does not claim that the WSG should not receive compensation, but certainly not in the amount proposed in the course of the talks so far.
– From the very beginning, the Świątek family was ready to reimburse the actual costs incurred by WSG for Iga’s development, excluding the costs that were not related to her sports development, and which were unjustifiably charged by WSG to Iga – Chałas explains “SE”. – At the beginning of earlier negotiations, the parties agreed on undisputed costs, which are not questioned and whose return Iga Świątek declared from the beginning of the negotiations. WSG could receive them a long time ago, but demanded much higher amounts, which have nothing to do with Iga’s development, and refused to present documents that would confirm their legitimacy – adds Iga’s lawyer.
The head of the WSG informed us that the letter with the statement of claim was sent to the court a few months ago and that Iga Świątek is formally the defendant.
– I say this with regret and regret, but unfortunately this must be the legal structure of the lawsuit, because Iga, whom I am a hot supporter of, I always wished her well and I was and am ready to support her, she is an adult and is responsible for managing the property – admits Bochenek. – I emphasize once again that we would prefer to settle it amicably,recently we sent an invitation to Iga and her father for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute.
– After the success of Iga Świątek in the Roland Garros tournament, WSG actually issued “the final proposal to conduct settlement talks”, although it was WSG that broke the previous settlement talks in March this year – comments attorney Chałas. – Iga Świątek is of course considering starting talks. The place and date have already been proposed.
What is the amount in dispute? Loaf does not want to talk about amounts, but admits that keeping a tennis player at this level costs from several to several dozen thousand PLN a month. The WSG looked after Iga Świątek for over three years. It is easy to calculate that an amount of up to a million PLN can be involved. As he emphasized several times in an interview with us, the received money would also finance further activities consisting in supporting other tennis talents, because this was the model of operation adopted by WSG.
In the current financial situation of the player, one million PLN may not be a gigantic sum, but unofficially, we learned that in the absence of an amicable solution, her camp is not afraid of a trial and the matter may actually end in a courtroom.
Let us remind you that Iga Świątek earned PLN 11.5 million throughout her professional career, and of course the recent triumph at Roland Garros, from which she left PLN 7.5 million richer, hit the bull’s eye.
