Yan Diomandé targeted by legal action for breach of agreement over his image rights

Rainbow Images will sue Yan Diomandé

Behind the rumors of an upcoming transfer for the young Ivorian striker, a major legal battle is looming that could further stain the young career of Yan Diomandé.

Indeed, the company Rainbow Images, a subsidiary of the Rainbow World Group, announced in a statement that it will take legal action for breach of the commercial terms agreed at the beginning of the Ivorian international’s career. Based in England, the company will assert its rights before the High Court in London as well as the courts of the British Virgin Islands.

Specifically, the company revealed it had invested significant financial resources in the educational development, facilitation, and then funding of his trips to the West for trials, notably at Chelsea, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Olympiakos and even CD Léganes, where Diomandé would launch his European career, at a time when he was not in the spotlight. In return, the two parties agreed to grant Rainbow Images the management of the player’s image rights and intellectual property.

But not at all. To the company’s great surprise, it was not at all associated with the player’s commercial dealings, even though he is a major attraction in a football market with significant financial stakes. Hence their decision to take the matter to court.

“These agreements aimed to ensure that the company could participate in the commercial value it had helped create should Diomandé go on to professional success. The company considers that these agreements relating to image rights and intellectual property remain valid and enforceable, and that it will seek their recognition and enforcement before the courts,” it stated.

See also: Yan Diomandé case: revelations on the standoff between Max Gradel and Roc Nation

A dispute not tied to his sporting career

While this new legal front involving Yan Diomandé might recall the one with Roc Nation and Maxidel Management, it is important to note that Rainbow Images blames only the player for failing to comply with the agreement on his image rights.

“The proceedings are not aimed at Roc Nation. It concerns an image rights and intellectual property agreement made with the player, and it is the recognition and enforcement of this agreement that is being sought — initially with the player himself, as a party to this agreement. This is not an action directed against Yan Diomandé’s sporting career, which Rainbow continues to support, but rather a contractual and commercial matter which, if no amicable resolution is found, will indeed be settled through appropriate legal channels,” the company told Sport News Africa.

The company, which claims to hold all the documented proof of its investment in supporting Yan Diomandé throughout his journey from anonymity to the spotlight of the professional world, also says it has informed the player and his legal representatives of the proceedings it is preparing to launch.

The coming weeks therefore promise to be eventful for Yan Diomandé, both legally and in sporting terms. All of this comes as a five-year agreement with PSG for his transfer is rumored.