Mateta takes dispute over final year of Crystal Palace contract to FIFA
Jean-Philippe Mateta has taken his dispute over the final 10 months of his Crystal Palace contract to FIFA, multiple sources told BBC Sport on 22 August 2026, with the striker’s deal due to run until June 2027. Mateta started Palace’s Premier League opener at Everton on Saturday.
Mateta joined Palace in 2021 from Mainz 05 on an initial 18-month loan and signed a four-and-a-half-year permanent contract in January 2022 that included a 12-month optional extension. Palace activated that option in 2024, leaving the contract set to expire at the end of the 2026–27 season; Mateta is arguing that the optional final year should be void. An independent tribunal under Premier League rules heard the matter, and while there has been no official confirmation of the outcome it was understood Mateta’s contract still stood, prompting him to take the issue to FIFA, who ruled earlier this week that overruling the contract is not within its jurisdiction. BBC Sport has approached Mateta’s representatives and FIFA for comment.
Had Mateta succeeded in proving the optional year void, it would possibly set the wheels in motion towards him becoming a free agent before his Palace deal expires next year. That potential outcome is the central aim of his current challenge to the validity of the extra 12-month term.
Mateta has been a prominent figure at Selhurst Park, scoring 67 goals for the club and playing a major role in Palace’s FA Cup and Uefa Conference League victories under former manager Oliver Glasner. He is known for a trademark celebration in which he kicks the corner flag to shouts of "boom" from supporters and he scored the winning goal in the Conference League final.
The forward’s Palace career has included a notable run under Glasner in which he scored 46 goals in 109 games in all competitions. Mateta pushed to leave in January, was close to joining AC Milan before the move collapsed over an issue with his knee, failed a medical at Milan, was ruled out for about two months and was booed by some sections of fans on his return in the last-16 tie against AEK Larnaca in March before scoring in the Conference League final and finishing the season with 16 goals in all competitions. Palace signed Jorgen Strand Larsen as a January replacement for a deal worth up to £48m; Strand Larsen made his debut in a win over Brighton and fans repeatedly chanted his name.
Off the pitch at Goodison Park, new Palace manager Pierre Sage began his tenure with a 2-0 defeat and Ismaila Sarr was omitted from the matchday squad because, Sage said, he has been struggling with an injury. Sources told BBC Sport Sarr had not trained for two days and complained of a groin issue amid interest from Galatasaray; Palace do not want to sell the forward, who scored 21 goals in all competitions last season as the Eagles won the Community Shield and the Conference League, and one source said any acceptable bid would have to be well above market value. Defender Chadi Riad was stretchered off with a serious knee injury in the defeat; Riad has suffered knee problems since joining Palace in 2024, had an issue in his second game for the club and was absent from the squad for more than 400 days because of back-to-back knee injuries.
The contract dispute adds a new complication to Mateta’s time at Palace and, if his challenge were upheld, could allow him to leave before June 2027; for now the matter remains with FIFA following the independent tribunal and the governing body’s recent jurisdictional ruling.