The EU’s top court said on Friday that some international soccer rules governing player transfers are against the bloc’s laws, in a landmark ruling that could shake up the system.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has been called upon to decide a long-running dispute between former French footballer Lassana Diarra and FIFA over what happens when players unilaterally terminate their contracts.
In a long-awaited verdict, the judges found that by restricting the ability of footballers to seek further employment, FIFA’s current rules impede free movement and EU competition between clubs.
“The Court finds that all these rules are contrary to EU law,” it said.
The ruling could have far-reaching implications for the lucrative transfer market, allowing players to leave their club without fear of legal entanglement afterwards.
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“In a way, the Lassana Diarra case is the Bosman case 2.0,” Diarra’s Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont said before the ruling, predicting the “end” of the current system in the event of a favorable verdict.
Dupont was also involved in the footballer Jean-Marc Bosman case in 1995, which allowed players to move to another club at the end of their contract without paying a transfer fee and also ended foreign player quotas at clubs.
On Friday, he hailed the new ruling as “a total victory”.
Ten years of saga
Diarra’s saga goes back 10 years.
In August 2014, Lokomotiv terminated the midfielder’s contract citing contractual violations by the player. The Russian club also demanded 20 million euros ($22 million) in damages from Diarra.
Diarra, now 39, refused and demanded compensation from Lokomotiv.
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He was eventually ordered to pay his former club €10 million by FIFA, a fine upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Diarra also received a 15-month suspension.
According to FIFA regulations, if a player terminates his contract unilaterally and “without just cause”, he must pay compensation that includes his salary and benefits until the end of his contract.
Additionally, a buying club could be held jointly liable for any compensation and, in some cases, banned from signing new players for a given period.
National football associations are also being forced to refuse to issue a certificate required to complete a transfer pending a dispute.
As a result, clubs did not rush to sign Diarra after he left Lokomotiv.
His lawyers argued that the rules breached the free movement of EU workers and, by restricting clubs’ ability to recruit, ran counter to the principle of free competition within the 27-nation bloc.
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Diarra demanded six million euros from FIFA, on the grounds that he was prevented from playing most of the 2014-2015 season.
Belgian side Charleroi have rescinded their contract offer, fearing potential legal and financial consequences.
Significant risk
After many reversals, a Belgian court asked the CJEU for its opinion on the matter.
On Friday, the CJEU found that the rules impede the free movement of players “imposing significant legal risks, unpredictable and potentially very high financial risks, as well as significant sporting risks on those players and clubs who wish to employ them”.
While some restrictions could be justified to allow a certain degree of stability in football clubs’ player rosters, the rules in question went beyond “what is necessary to pursue this objective”, it said.
The judges said the burden on the club market was intended to limit, even prevent, cross-border competition and therefore “did not appear necessary or necessary”.
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The decision throws the world of football transfers into uncertainty.
Smaller teams often rely on player trades to keep their finances afloat — recruiting young prospects for cheap money to sell on at a high price later.
Clubs are currently under no obligation to let players leave before the end of their contract, which gives managerial authority over transfer negotiations, a lever they look set to lose.
Capped 34 times by France, Diarra also played for Chelsea, Arsenal, Portsmouth and Real Madrid before ending his career at Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.
Source: AFP