Rapids' Cannon wins appeal in Boavista dispute

Colorado Rapids defender Reggie Cannon has won his appeal against former club Boavista, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled. He is now owed around $468,000 by the Portuguese club.

CAS said Wednesday it had overturned a decision by FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber last Thursday. CAS said the parties have a period of time to request the text of the decision remain confidential and that if they do not it will be published.

GiveMeSport was the first to report that CAS had ruled in favor of Cannon.

In an exclusive interview with ESPN, Cannon said about the decision, "It's an amazing feeling. It just feels like a big wave of relief that this is officially done and dusted, and I can definitely, finally move on. So honestly, it's such a good feeling."

The decision by CAS concludes a two-year saga that began in the summer of 2023. It was then that Cannon first declared that Boavista had breached his contract due to late payments, and that he was unilaterally terminating his contract and joining Queens Park Rangers in the English Championship.

But Boavista contested Cannon's decision and took the case to FIFA. Last June, FIFA's Disciplinary Committee ruled that Cannon breached his contract with Boavista.

FIFA's ruling stated that Cannon and QPR were liable for the termination, and as a result owed Boavista around $1.4 million. Boavista was required to pay Cannon around $85,000.

Cannon appealed that decision to CAS. Sources tell ESPN that CAS found that Boavista was consistently late with its scheduled payments to Cannon.

Out of 29 scheduled payments that were supposed to be made to the player, Boavista was late 28 times, and was anywhere from five to 98 days late with those payments. As such, CAS ruled that Cannon had just cause to terminate his contract.

In overturning the decision, the fine against Cannon and QPR has not only been annulled, but sources tell ESPN that Boavista is now ordered to pay Cannon around $468,000. Cannon was informed of the decision on Monday.

"It was such a good feeling getting that call because obviously there was a lot of pressure with the previous decision," Cannon said. "So it was very rare for the Court of Arbitration for Sport to completely overturn a decision."