Modeste sues energy drink company – but has not read the contract
Stand: 13.05.2022
One day before the last Bundesliga match day, Anthony Modeste appeared in court – as a plaintiff. A dispute with a company involves a lot of money. Both sides see themselves in the right. However: The professional from 1. FC Köln has never read the contract.
GCourtroom instead of soccer field: Professional Anthony Modeste, top scorer at 1. FC Köln, had to appear before the Bonn district court on Friday because of a dispute with an energy drink company. The background of the somewhat surprising appearance: The French striker is suing the company from the Rhein-Sieg district for repayment of 350,000 euros, as a court spokeswoman said. The 1st Civil Chamber had ordered the parties to appear in person.
According to the lawsuit, Modeste had concluded a distribution agreement with the beverage manufacturer at the end of 2017, according to which the soccer star was to sell beverage cans exclusively in France. Modeste is said to have paid 250,000 euros for the license and 100,000 euros for the first product.
But, according to the complaining soccer player: The company never delivered the drinks. The drink distributor wanted to use his celebrity for PR purposes and was only interested in his money. He speaks of fraud – the other side describes the situation differently.
Modeste “never read the contract”
However, the company denies the allegation according to the statement of defense: The company did provide the goods, but the Frenchman never picked them up. Since it was food, the batch was disposed of after the expiration time.
Anthony Modeste is sitting in front of the courtroom with his lawyer Rainer Dietz
Which: dpa/Thomas Banneyer
According to a court spokeswoman, Modeste admitted on Friday that he had never read the contract. He believed that he didn’t have to do anything to sell the energy drinks, as he had been promised. The defendant company, on the other hand, relies on the wording of the contract in the process, which details what the footballer should have done in his function as a sales representative.
An agreement was not reached. At the beginning of June, the chamber wants to decide whether the lawsuit should be dismissed or whether the case should be further clarified by questioning witnesses.
