10 Insanely Weird Football Contract Clauses
3. The No Trips To Outer-Space Clause
Swedish midfielder Stefan Schwarz signed for Sunderland in 1999 for a club-record fee of £4 million. Schwarz, who had just been voted Swedish player of the year, signed a contract clause that was quite simply out of this world. For the duration of his stay at The Stadium of Light, Schwarz was banned by the club from travelling in outer-space!
No, the 'The Black Cats,' we're not afraid of the Swedish powerhouse being abducted by aliens. Schwarz had expressed a desire to be one of the first to sign up for commercial flights to space. His agent had just secured a place on one of the flights, and relegation-threatened Sunderland were ensuring their prize-asset also didn't also take flight.