Following public outcry, FC Kuressaare announced that Otto-Robert Lipp will be reimbursed for the medical expenses that he incurred following an ACL injury last year, which the club initially refused to cover.
What began as a podcast interview with Õhtuleht’s sporting podcast “Kolmas poolaeg” turned into public backlash against one of Premium liiga smaller clubs – FC Kuressaare – as it came to light that the club refused to cover medical fees of Otto-Robert Lipp (24) after he suffered an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury during last year’s Livonia Winter League game.
During the podcast interview, where Lipp mainly spoke about mental health issues in football, it emerged that following his injury, the player was informed by the cash-strapped club that they are unable to cover his medical fees for an ACL surgery. According to Lipp, he then had to pay around EUR 3500 in medical bills from his own pocket – money that he had to borrow from his girlfriend and did not expect to ever recover from the club. This is not least because of how smaller teams in Estonia structure their one year contracts – from March to November, meaning that players are technically out of contract during pre-season and, as such, are not subject to health insurance coverage.
In response, FC Kuressaare’s board member and ex-CEO Mario Pruul, in an interview to soccernet.ee, blamed the player for speaking out:
I’ll be honest, the situation he has put himself in is perhaps not the smartest thing he did. I personally haven’t spoken to him about these issues. He went to the media to discuss this situation and I can’t comment on whether he took it to heart and is now motivated or how it affected him,
What followed was a public outcry against the club and their actions with respect to the injured striker. Eva Nõmme, from the Estonian FA, went on record to state that the Estonia’s main football authority would have reimbursed part of the expenses for the surgery but that the club never applied for any such aid. Former national team player, Markus Jürgenson, started a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money to return to Lipp, raising EUR 2,700 is the space of a single business day. As for Kuressaare, the club has managed to find the funds and to reimburse the player. Lipp can still keep the crowdfunded amount in addition to this, as confirmed by Jürgenson.
While eventually with a happy ending, this is not an isolated case in Baltic football, both in smaller and in larger clubs. While each case is different, the precarity of football as a profession means that there is ample incentive for clubs to treat players in less than ethical ways.
Source: https://news.err.ee/1609630556/following-pushback-fc-kuressaare-backs-down-on-striker-s-medical-expenses
