Soccer-EU top court says some FIFA player transfer rules breach EU law
Some FIFA rules on players seeking new club breach EU laws
Court ruling comes after Lassana Diarra sued FIFA
Ruling could lead other players to seek damages
Adds FIFA chief legal officer comment
By Julien Pretot
PARIS, Oct 4 (Reuters) -Some of FIFA's rules on player transfers go against European Union laws and free movement principles, the EU's top court said on Friday, in a ruling that could open the door for players to find a new club more easily after their contract is terminated.
FIFA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) say a player who terminates a contract before its term "without just cause" is liable to pay compensation to the club, and where the player joins a new club they will be jointly liable for payment of compensation.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), ruling on a high-profile case linked to former France player Lassana Diarra, stated these dispositions were unlawful, and the judgment is expected to prompt FIFA to revamp its transfer regulations.
"The rules in question are such as to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club," said the Luxembourg-based CJEU.
"Those rules impose considerable legal risks, unforeseeable and potentially very high financial risks as well as major sporting risks on those players and clubs wishing to employ them which, taken together, are such as to impede international transfers of those players."
In 2014 Diarra left Lokomotiv Moscow one year into a four-year deal and the club took the matter to FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), arguing he had breached the rules when his contract was terminated after the player decided to leave without just cause following a pay cut.
Diarra received an offer to join Belgian club Charleroi but the club backed out after FIFA refused to sign the International Transfer Certificate (ITC), preventing the player being registered with the Belgian federation.
According to the CJEU ruling, it is also unlawful to refuse to sign the ITC.
In 2015, FIFA ordered Diarra to pay 10 million euros ($11 million) in damages to Lokomotiv, prompting the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid player to sue the world governing body and Belgian FA for damages before a local court.
The CJEU ruling could also lead other players affected by the FIFA regulations like Diarra was to also seek damages.
"All professional players have been affected by these illegal rules (in force since 2001) and can therefore now seek compensation for their losses," Diarra's lawyers Jean-Louis Dupont and Martin Hissel said in a statement.
FIFA'S AUTHORITY MAY BE IN QUESTION
Dupont said the whole transfer system would change with the court's ruling.
"FIFA's immunity is over, there will be a before and after in (football) governance after the EU (court) ruling," Dupont told Reuters.
Not quite, according to FIFA.
FIFA said it was "satisfied that the legality of key principles of the transfer system have been re-confirmed in today's ruling. The ruling only puts in question two paragraphs of two articles of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which the national court is now invited to consider."
Its chief legal and compliance officer, Emilio Garcia, said it was not the end of FIFA's transfer system.
"It is important to clarify that today’s decision does not change the core principles of the transfer system at all," he said.
"FIFA has been continuously improving that system for many years – not for its own benefit, but for the benefit of players, clubs, leagues and member associations, to ensure that players can train, be developed and have stability, while safeguarding the integrity of competitions by implementing a robust regulatory framework for the international transfer system."
David Terrier, the president of FIFPRO Europe, said they were happy for Diarra but that he was not the only victim.
"The reality is we are going to see how to repair the damage for all the players who were victims of the (FIFA transfer) system," Terrier told Reuters.
REDUCED TRANSFER FEES?
The ruling could result in reduced transfer fees and more economic power for players, according to Ian Giles, the EMEA head of antitrust and competition at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
"It's entirely possible this means players will feel they can now break contracts and sign on with new clubs, without the selling club being able to hold them or demand significant transfer fees," Giles said.
"But over time things will have to stabilise to allow clubs to remain economically viable. Smaller clubs who rely on transfer fees for talent they have developed may well be the losers in this context."
The European Club Association (ECA), which represents more than 700 clubs, was not immediately reachable for comment.
Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Julien Pretot and Rohith Nair; Editing by Alex Richardson and Christian Radnedge
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
