The dispute between AS Saint-Etienne and his goalkeeper Stéphane Ruffier, 34, resulted in the rupture on Monday, January 4. In a terse press release, ASSE makes it known that it is breaking the contract of its historic guardian.
“After the disciplinary proceedings against the player, AS Saint-Etienne decided to terminate Stéphane Ruffier’s contract, which ended on June 30, 2021,” the statement said. Stéphane Ruffier is therefore free from any commitment. ASSE regrets having come to this decision, made ineluctable by the attitude of the player who undermined the institution. “
Ruffier, who enjoys one of the highest salaries in the professional workforce, around 2.8 million euros annually, has been in dispute with ASSE since February 23. At the time, the club’s coach and manager, Claude Puel, decided to put him on rest for a match against Reims. Then the confinement linked to the Covid-19 and the cessation of the championship intervened, freezing the situation of the one who has played 383 games in the goals of the Greens since his arrival in 2011.
Then in July, at the start of the season, the coach had made it clear to Ruffier that the latter was not part of his plans and that he would rely on Jessy Moulin, Stefan Bajic and Etienne Green at the goalkeeper post.
A final layoff in November
During the summer, Puel also clarified that Stéphane Ruffier had informed him of his refusal to be the understudy of Jessy Moulin. What the person denied, supporting, by a press release from his lawyer, that he had never been offered the role of number two.
At the end of July, Ruffier was laid off for six days for “act of insubordination” because of a delay in training – which he disputed.
Removed from the professional group since then, the player appealed to the legal committee of the Professional Football League. The latter ordered ASSE to reinstate him. On October 26, AS Saint-Etienne announced that it had appealed against this decision of the legal committee of the LFP, while affirming that the goalkeeper had been dismissed of his requests concerning the challenge of the disciplinary sanctions imposed on him. .
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At the end of November, Ruffier was again laid off by his club, for having left a training session prematurely. On December 2, he was summoned for an interview prior to a possible sanction. This therefore ultimately occurred in the form of a breach of contract.
