Anthony Modeste insists he will take his case to CAS after FIFA ruled his decision to walk out on Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian was not justified by unpaid salary.
The 30-year-old striker posted on Instagram that he will approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, in a bid to play for German second-division side Cologne.
“Tianjin is trying to prevent me from playing football,” complained Modeste who insists he “quit” his contract in China “for obvious reasons”, which led to the Chinese club taking the matter to FIFA.
In a bid to be able to play for Cologne before the transfer window closes in Germany at 1800 (1700 GMT) on Thursday, Modeste says he will “go to CAS and fight for my rights”.
Modeste walked out on the Chinese club last year, citing a lack of pay, and signed a new contract until 2023 with ex-club Cologne, for whom he scored 25 goals in 34 league games in 2016/17.
Tianjin Quanjian, or Tianjin Tianhai as they have been known since being renamed, face an uncertain future and reportedly need to sell players to survive due to excessive spending.
After two seasons in China, Modeste quit the Super League in mid-2018 and, after training with Cologne in the winter break, was due to make his first appearance in the second Bundesliga on Thursday at Union Berlin.
However, FIFA has ruled Modeste’s switch is invalid after the matter was brought before their Dispute Resolution Chamber.
The body “rules that Tianjin Quanjian FC is required to pay the outstanding compensation to the player, but it has been determined that they (Modeste) terminated their employment with Tianjin Quanjian FC without good reason,” said FIFA in a statement.
Cologne currently sit second in the German second-tier and are chasing promotion back to the top flight.
On Friday, Cologne announced FIFA had suspended their registration for Modeste.