May 21 – Former France and Manchester United legend turned film actor Eric Cantona is suing the New York Cosmos, saying they failed to pay him nearly $1m in salary and provide a share of equity in the club.
Cantona, who won four Premier League titles with Manchester United in the 1990s, was hired by the revived Cosmos in 2011 to be the team’s director of football.
Cosmos sprung to fame in the North American Soccer League, then the top-tier league in the United States and Canada that played from 1970 until it folded in 1985 after hiring a string of highly-paid overseas stars. The club has most recently hired Spanish and Real Madrid legend Raul.
Cantona, who won 45 caps for France, was reportedly fired by Cosmos following a fracas with a photographer in London last year and alleges the club never paid him the $961,290 in salary he claims he was owed.
The club did not immediately comment on the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Federal Court on May 19.
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