The European Court of Justice has declared two of FIFA’s transfer rules unlawful after ex-Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Lassana Diarra sued football’s governing body.
It all began a decade ago, after Diarra fell out with his club, Lokomotiv Moscow, over a salary dispute. The club decided this amounted to a breach of contract and terminated it.
The Russian side decided to sue Diarra for damages, taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which ruled in their favour. The Frenchman was ordered to pay €10.5 million in compensation.
The issues were compounded for Diarra, as any club he wanted to join would be jointly responsible for paying this fee under FIFA’s regulations.
Belgian club Charleroi asked for guarantees from FIFA that they wouldn’t be liable for the costs owed to Lokomotiv but were rebuffed. FIFA further denied the player an international transfer certificate, as Lokomotiv was yet to receive any payment, making a move impossible.
Therefore, not only was Diarra forced to pay compensation to a club he no longer played for but he was also unable to sign for a new team.
Key to Diarra’s case against FIFA are the issues of freedom of movement, and the preservation of competition.
The ECJ ruling on 4 October decreed that the denial of a transfer certificate surmounted to restriction of movement. Moreover, they determined that forcing a club to contribute to the costs of a player’s departure was unlawful as it restricted fair competition.
Although the case has been passed back to the Belgian courts to determine the final outcome, the decision represents a significant challenge to FIFA’s laws.
FIFA has downplayed the magnitude of the decision, arguing that only two specific laws will have to be amended.
“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.”
On the other hand, FIFPRO World Players’ Union said, “This is an important ruling which could have potentially far-reaching ramifications for the rights of players within the current transfer system.
“More widely it demonstrates again that football cannot behave like it does not have to work within the same employment laws that apply to any other industry.
“As they consider the impact of this ruling, the football authorities need to be making an honest and open assessment of the suitability of their rules and how they sit alongside employment laws. They then need to start making genuine and proactive efforts to work with players and their unions.”
FIFA has said they will be formally inviting stakeholders to discuss the decision and identify how to update their regulations.
Photo Credits: “Lassana Diarra Lokomotiv” by Рыбакова Елена is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.