The decision of the Administrative Court of Nice was delivered late in the afternoon, and it is negative. Ben Arfa’s adventure at OGC Nice should thus, this Tuesday, come to an end even before it began. The conclusion of a month-long rather rare entanglement, and possibly the end of a career of a player who was initially presented as extremely talented.
FIFA said no, the Professional Football League (LFP) followed, and finally the Administrative Court of Nice. Twenty-nine days after his grand introduction at the Allianz Riviera and then in front of the shop on Place Massena, Ben Arfa is expected to leave OGC Nice without playing a single minute.
The words of Mathieu Bodmer and the president, Jean-Pierre Rivère, to bring him over will not have sufficed. The LFP, through a decision by FIFA, prevailed over the signing of Hatem Ben Arfa at Nice. The prodigal and tumultuous child will not make his return to Ligue 1, four years after leaving it. The issue was the English U21 (under-21) competition, deemed official by FIFA against the opinion of the English Federation, which prevented the French midfielder from wearing three different jerseys during a single and unique season.
Since the announcement from the Administrative Court of Nice, rumors have been swirling around about Hatem Ben Arfa’s potential retirement. Contract terminated with OGC Nice? Signing in another country? End of career at just 27 years old? Answers will be provided around noon at the press conference organized by the club, in the presence of the player.
