Sir Alex steps in to help Quinton's case

Soccer boss Sir Alex Ferguson has helped put the legal battle between Manchester United star Quinton Fortune and his former manager Colin Gie on ice until later this year.

Cape Town soccer coach Gie's legal attempt to force his former protégé to honour a 15-year management contract, signed when Fortune was 15, was scheduled to kick off next month.

But Fortune argued in papers before the Cape High Court that being forced to return to Cape Town for the case could jeopardise his career with Man United.

He said Ferguson had told him it would be "impossible" for him to be considered for selection for the FA Cup if he missed any of the pre-competition training sessions. Ferguson had also said that he would "treat any failure to attend training, for whatever reason, very seriously".

But Fortune felt it was "imperative" that he be here for the case so he could instruct his lawyers personally.

"The questions at issue at this hearing involve matters which fall solely within my personal knowledge and it is simply not possible for anyone else to testify in relation thereto. For this reason, my evidence is absolutely essential and it will have to be led at the hearing of the matter."

Justice Willem Louw postponed the hearing to between mid-May and mid-June, a break in the English Premier League season.

Gie claims he "discovered" Fortune when the budding star was 13 and living in a Kewtown council flat near Athlone Stadium.

According to the disputed agreement, signed by Fortune in Cape Town in 1998, Gie is entitled to claim 20 percent of Fortune's estimated R160 000 weekly earnings.

In court papers, Gie admitted he received R1,7-million from Fortune between December 1999 and June 2002. Fortune alleges that the sum was closer to R2,34-million.

Fortune's lawyers argued in terms of the rules of the South African Football Association and the international body Fifa, the maximum contract length for a player's agent is two years, while player's agents should normally expect a five percent cut of their player's earnings after tax.

Although Fortune arrived at Old Trafford in July 1999 as Gie's client, he has since been represented by the Elite Sports Company, which is owned by Jason Ferguson, Sir Alex's son.