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FIFA has ordered Spanish La Liga side Real Valladolid to pay €837,615 to Sierra Leonean club AIK Freetong following a financial dispute over the high-profile transfer of teenage defender Abdulai Juma Bah to Manchester City.
The ruling, handed down by FIFA’s Players’ Status Committee, centers on a sell-on clause that was activated when the 19-year-old center-back made his sudden move to the English Premier League champions in January 2025.
The conflict stems from the specific terms of Bah’s original transfer from Africa to Europe. According to the claim successfully brought forward by AIK Freetong, the Sierra Leonean club was contractually entitled to a 15% share of any future profit generated from Bah’s subsequent sale.
Real Valladolid initially acquired the 6-foot-5 defender on loan in August 2024 before exercising a purchase option for approximately €170,000 on January 1, 2025. However, just weeks later, Manchester City expressed strong interest in the player. Rather than Valladolid negotiating a traditional transfer fee, Bah unilaterally triggered his own youth contract buyout clause of €6 million to force an exit.
In total, Valladolid received approximately €6.048 million from the contract termination. After reviewing the complex calculations, the transfer profit, and applicable deductions, FIFA determined that AIK Freetong is owed €837,615 as their rightful 15% cut.
Bah’s journey has been one of the most rapid ascents in recent football history. Discovered by an agent while playing on the dusty pitches of Freetown, he joined AIK Freetong in 2021. After arriving in Spain, he was quickly promoted to Valladolid’s first team, making history as the first Sierra Leonean to ever play in La Liga.
However, his exit from Valladolid was highly acrimonious. The Spanish club released a furious public statement at the time, accusing Manchester City of “tapping up” the player and encouraging him to skip training and break his contract to avoid a higher, negotiated transfer fee. Bah subsequently signed with City and was immediately loaned out to the French league to continue his development.
Despite FIFA’s ruling, the funds will not be changing hands just yet. Real Valladolid has officially appealed the Players’ Status Committee’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The payout currently remains frozen while both clubs await a final, binding decision from the international sports tribunal.
