Bayer Leverkusen’s Hakan Calhanoglu, one of the top free-kick takers in the Bundesliga, has been banned from all soccer activity for four months for breach of contract, dating back to a 2011contract dispute.
The ban follows the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to upheld the four-month ban in a case Turkish club Trabzonspor first filed with FIFA in 2013. Trabzonsporargued Calhanoglu broke an agreement to sign with it from Karlsruhe in 2011 but he stayed in Germany.
In addition to Bundesliga play, Calhanoglu, who has seven goals this season, willmiss the Champions League matches against Atletico Madrid and Turkey’s World Cup qualifying match at home against Finland on March 24.