Sunderland face a three-month wait to find out if they have to pay over £8m to Inter Milan in compensation for former loanee Ricky Alvarez.
The Black Cats have been butting heads with the Serie A club since the summer of 2015 after apparently reneging on a deal to sign the 28-year-old permanently. The Sunderland Echo now claims that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will not make a final decision over the contractual saga until March next year, with chief executive Martin Bain lamenting the lengthy wait after being told of the court's decision.
He said: It was meant to last a day - it didn't, it ran over. Submissions are now due in at the beginning of February to complete and then I understand that by the middle of March, there'll be a decision by CAS.�
Final submissions are due to be made to CAS in Febuary next year, with the outcome determined a month later.
The issue surrounds a supposed contractual obligation from Sunderland to sign Alvarez, in a permanent deal, if they successfully staved off relegation from the Premier League during the 2014/15 campaign.
Ex-Sunderland boss Gus Poyet had initially brought the Argentine to the Stadium of Light and, after the Uruguayan was sacked later that season, successor Dick Advocaat led the North East side to safety following another relegation-threatened season.
Sunderland to learn in March whether they must pay £8m over Ricky Alvarez deal https://t.co/cTLujVUZyC #SAFC pic.twitter.com/gvMR8i9sbJ
Alvarez played just 17 times for Sunderland during a season blighted by knee injuries but, thanks to the club retaining their top flight status, was expected to complete a move to England for a fee worth around £8.5m.
However, Sunderland refused to sanction the agreed fee after claiming that Inter Milan had failed to deliver on a promise to pay for surgery that Alvarez required on his knee injury - a move that is alleged to have infuriated Inter and led to the standoff over which club should keep Alvarez. Sunderland are also believed to have return to the negotiating table on a number of occasions since the fallout in a bid to resolve the issue, but to no avail.
With neither party wanting to retain the nine-times capped international's services, Alvarez was given special dispensation to join Sampdoria on loan in January before he completed a free transfer move to the Italian outfit in the summer.
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