Sunderland finally draw line under Ricky Alvarez saga as legal claim against former doctor Ishtiaq Rehman is dropped

Dr Rehman has in turn retracted his claims against former club employees in a move that looks to have finally drawn a line under the long-running Ricky Alvarez saga.

Sunderland initially signed Alvarez on loan from Inter Milan in September 2014, with a clause to make the deal permanent should the Black Cats beat the drop at the end of that season.

A long legal battle ensued when Sunderland argued that this was invalid due to the circumstances surrounding an injury to Alvarez’s right knee.

Sunderland lost the case in front of the FIFA Players' Status Committee, a verdict that was later confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

That ruling forced the Black Cats to pay Inter Milan the initially agreed fee.

The Black Cats were then stung by a further ruling from the court, who ruled that Velez Sarsfield, the Argentinian side where Alvarez began his senior career, were owed €362,500.

The court then ruled at the end of last year that Alvarez was owed £4,770,000 in lost wages while he was a free agent in the period preceding his signing for Sampdoria in 2016.

The claim against Dr Rehman was understood to have begun before the takeover of the club by Madrox, but continued until recently.

A statement released on behalf of Dr Rehman confirmed that action has now been dropped.

The statement said the move would allow the medical staff involved to 'continue in their valued careers', while allowing the club to 'focus on pursuing continued success on the pitch, under the stewardship of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’.

The statement reads: “Following recent discussions between SAFC representatives, Dr Rehman and the SAFC employed medical staff involved on the evening of Ricardo Alvarez’s medical of 30 August 2014, SAFC has decided to retract its claim for negligence as against Dr Rehman, the Club Doctor at the time, and considers him to be exonerated in this matter, and Dr Rehman has retracted his claims against Dr David Gough and David Binningsley.

"This will allow Dr Rehman and his former colleagues to continue in their valued careers, and permit the club to focus on pursuing continued success on the pitch, under the stewardship of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.”

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