Camilo Sanvezzo, the 2013 MLS Golden Boot winner appears to want out from the Vancouver Whitecaps. The 25 year-old Brazilian was pictured wearing the kit of Liga MX club Queretaro FC on Monday.
Reports surfaced last week that Camilo was on the verge of signing a contract with Queretaro FC. However, this raises a major conflict because Sanvezzo is currently under contract with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Camilo signed a contract extension with Vancouver in February 2012 after asking for a pay raise following the 2011 season. His current contract with the Caps had a club option for 2014 which was picked up by Bobby Lenarduzzi and the Whitecaps on November 28, 2013.
The Whitecaps President was understandably aggrieved when he spoke to the media about the Camilo tug of war.
“They (Queretaro FC) were well aware of the fact that he was contracted to Whitecaps FC. From where I stand right now, I really believe the situation has been misrepresented to Camilo. I think he’s put a lot of faith in an agent and gone with his agent’s advice."
Under no circumstances is Camilo Sanvezzo able to freely go and sign with any club he so chooses to. A contract is a contract, and it would seem to most people that an iron clad contract would prevent an athlete from signing with another team. Camilo's brazen and Brazilian-based agent Lucas Teixera has somehow pulled the wool over Queretaro FC President Adolfo Rios, and convinced him that Camilo Sanvezzo is a free agent able to sign on.
In 2013 Camilo earned $247,500 from the Whitecaps. If another pay raise was required to remain with Vancouver, he and his agent should have broached that subject during exit meetings in November. This did not happen, and it now appears the Camilo has been given some poor, and now damaging, advice from his agent Lucas Teixera.
Shockingly, the Whitecaps don't seem to be in an urgent rush to resolve the Camilo Sanvezzo tug of war. Lenarduzzi believes taking a calmer, more rational approach, is better in the long run. While some Caps fans might want to burn any Christmas gifts with number 7 on the back, the Whitecaps are taking everything in stride.
“We’re frustrated that it’s actually gotten to this stage. Having said all that, I think you need to take a step back from your frustration and make the best decision available to our club and also hear Camilo out.”
Whitecaps pundits, supporters, and football fans from across the globe flocked to social media on "Blue Monday" after multiple photographs with Camilo wearing a Queretaro FC surfaced online. Lenarduzzi was taken aback by seeing his superstar sniper wearing the colours of another club.
"It’s a situation that is a very frustrating one because none of it was really necessary. Taking that step, to actually be in another club’s jersey. I can tell you that when I saw it was like a kick in the midsection."
A professional athlete only has a short window to earn and provide as much money as he or she can while still competing at a top-level. If Camilo Sanvezzo truly wanted a pay hike, and a transfer from the Whitecaps, he should have stepped up and made that known. Going behind your clubs back, and donning the kit of another club is a great way to alienate the organization, fans and everyone who has supported you is not only unprofessional but demonstrates real immaturity.
The Vancouver Whitecaps are already dealing with one striker who thinks he can march to his own Jamaican beat, and it will be interesting to see how Camilo Sanvezzo can side step the samba music when the Whitecaps report for training camp on January 26.
Notes: Camilo Sanvezzo scored 41.5% of the Vancouver Whitecaps goals in 2013.
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