Al Ahly goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary has signed a four-year contract with Swiss Super League club FC Sion.

But a spokesman for FC Sion told said on Monday that no agreement has been reached yet with El-Hadary's club.

"We signed the player on 14 February and it's now up to us to find a solution with Al Ahly," FC Sion spokesman Lars Gansaeuer said.

He added: "We are in communication with the Egyptian team."

Gansaeuer said that a player of El-Hadary's age and "big experience is now ready to play in Europe."

But Al Ahly have ruled out the possibility of one of their biggest stars moving to Switzerland, arguing that the goalkeeper is under contract with them until 2010.

Al Ahly board member Khaled Mortagy said: "There is no way the club has agreed to sell the player, because we have only three goalkeepers registered.

"To my knowledge there's nothing in his contract that allows him to terminate it unilaterally."

But Gansaeuer added that El-Hadary could move on the basis of a landmark ruling by world sport's highest court.

Sion has offered Al Ahly US$400,000 for the player, equivalent to the remaining two years of his contract.

The offer is in line with a decision taken last month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS).

That ruling awarded Scottish Premier League side Hearts only the residual value of Andy Webster's contract after the defender unilaterally broke it to join English Premier League team Wigan.

The CAS verdict was a setback to Hearts, which sought millions of dollars in compensation.

FIFA also slammed the decision, saying it could inflict severe damage on world football.