The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled in favor of Zenit Saint Petersburg on Thursday, dismissing the claim filed by Barcelona, which demanded the Russian club pay $518,000 for the 2019 transfer of Brazilian player Malcom.

The court's decision was sent to Zenit on Thursday and published on the Telegram channel of the club, which is sponsored by Gazprom.

The two clubs had agreed in the transfer contract that Zenit would pay Barcelona a compensation bonus every time the Russian team qualified for the Champions League group stage. 

The condition was that the Brazilian player, who now plays for Al Hilal, had to play a minimum of half of Zenit's matches in the Russian Premier League.

Zenit argued that FIFA ruled in 2023 that the club did not have to pay the bonus since they were excluded from European competitions in March 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.

"Barcelona disagreed with this decision and took the matter to the CAS. After reviewing all the case materials, the court ruled in favor of Zenit," the statement read.

In July 2023, Zenit agreed to sell Malcom, their star player, to Al Hilal for $63.6 million. This transfer became the most expensive in Russian football history, surpassing the sale of fellow Brazilian Hulk by Zenit to Shanghai SIPG for $59.4 million in 2016.

The left-footed Brazilian, named the best player and top scorer in the Russian league, was a personal request by the Saudi team's coach, Portuguese Jorge Jesus.

Malcom's career began at Corinthians; he joined Girondins in 2016 for $5.3 million. He then moved to Barcelona for $42.3 million in 2018, the same fee Zenit paid for him in 2019.