Europe’s highest court has declared FIFA’s transfer rules ILLEGAL.
In a landmark ruling that could lead to the collapse of the entire transfer system, the European Court of Justice has backed former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra in his case against Fifa.
4
Europe’s highest court has declared Fifa’s transfer rules illegal. Credit: Getty
4
Lassana Diarra wins court case claiming Fifa breached European labor lawsCredit: AFP or licensors
4
Fifa could lose transfer authority by allowing players free transfers for big wages. Credit: Getty
Diarra, 39, sued the world body after it upheld a £16m fine handed out to him by former club Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014 after he was sacked for allegedly boycotting training over a pay dispute.
The huge fine was halved to £8m after the player appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
But the case has since gone all the way to the Luxembourg-based ECJ, Europe’s highest court.
Diarra’s lawyer, Jean Louis Dupont – the man responsible for the “Bosman” ruling in the 1990s that transformed the face of European football – argued that Fifa broke European labor laws by refusing to issue an international transfer certificate that would have allowed him to join another club and exercise your rights as a professional.
And in an eagerly awaited ruling, the European Court of Justice has now declared the current regulations in breach of EU law on the free movement of people.
The court ruled: “The rules in question are such that they hinder the free movement of professional soccer players who want to develop their activity by going to a new club.”
“These rules impose significant legal risks, unpredictable and potentially very high financial risks, as well as major sporting risks for those players and the clubs seeking to employ them, which, taken together, are such as to hinder international transfers of those players.”
The potential ramifications could be huge depending on the full ruling to be released later today.
BEST FREE SIGNUP OFFERS FOR BETTER
4
If the Court made a strong ruling, it could effectively declare the entire current system in breach of EU law.
This would see Fifa lose its current powers over the transfer system and allow players the right to terminate their contracts and change clubs with impunity.
The ten best Premier League managers
Transfer fees scrapped Q&A: How landmark ruling could mean NFL-style trades and stars suing for millions
FORMER Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra has won his landmark case at the European Court of Justice.
SunSport’s Martin Lipton explains what it was all about – and what it could mean for the future of football…
What was the case about?
Diarra claimed Fifa’s transfer rules were illegal after the world body backed Lokomotiv Moscow’s claim that he had breached his contract by refusing to train with them.
Is that it?
Not. Belgian club Charleroi wanted to sign Diarra but were told they would have to pay the money fined by Moscow, while Fifa refused to issue an international transfer certificate unless they relented.
Okay, so what does the decision mean?
In theory, players will have the right to terminate their contracts and change clubs without compensation – just like any employee in any other industry.
Wait – does that mean the END of transfer fees?
Potentially, yes. Although the players would have to want to move.
We would basically end up with the US model of “collective bargaining” where players could move freely within transfer windows with impunity.
Clubs would be able to “trade” players – change contracts – but with no extra money changing hands.
Does everyone agree on this?
Absolutely not. Fifa argued that the decision “merely calls into question two paragraphs of two articles” of its transfer regulations.
However, the judges said the current rules were “prohibited” under EU law and “anti-competitive” because they “restricted the freedom of action” of players to change employers.
Read SunSport’s full Q&A with football on the brink of its biggest shake-up in 30 years…
In turn, this would end the current “trickle down” system in which many smaller clubs rely on transfer income.
Such an outcome would see big stars able to sell their services for free but for huge wages, allowing the richest clubs – including most of the Premier League – to attract the best talent.
In its summary of the verdict, the Court added: “Restrictions on the free movement of professional players can be justified by important reasons in the public interest consisting of ensuring the regularity of inter-club football competitions, by maintaining a certain degree of stability in the player. lists of professional football clubs.
Inside Lassana Diarra’s legal case with Fifa
LASSANA DIARRE’s case with FIFA dates back to 2014 when he played for Lokomotiv Moscow.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder was in a dispute with Lokomotiv over wages – and the Russian side ended up terminating his contract.
The case was referred to FIFA’s Disputes and Resolutions Chamber (DRC) who ruled against Diarra, fining him £16 MILLION.
During that time, Diarra received an offer for a new contract from Belgium’s Charleroi.
But Charleroi wanted a clarification from FIFA that they will not be obliged to pay any of the money owed to Lokomotiv.
Fifa could not give that guarantee and the move never happened.
As a result, Diarra launched new legal proceedings against Fifa and the Belgian league, seeking loss of earnings.
This began a long process that led to this week’s revolutionary verdict.
“But these rules are intended to limit, and even prevent, cross-border competition by unilaterally employing players under contract with another club or players whose employment contract is claimed to have been terminated without just cause.
“The ability to compete by recruiting trained players plays a key role in the professional football sector.
“The rules that place general restrictions on that form of competition, by immutably determining the distribution of workers between employers and closing the market, are similar to an agreement on the prohibition of poaching.
“These rules do not appear to be necessary or necessary.”
Dupont declared the ruling “a complete victory”, adding that the Court “sternly criticized the structurally illegal actions of the current regulations”.
How football changed after the Bosman verdict
The Bosman ruling transformed football transfers in 1995.
Before the Bosman ruling, clubs could demand compensation for the transfer of a player even after the contract had expired.
However, the Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman went to the European Court and the judge ruled in his favor.
And this meant that when the player’s contract expires, the player can freely move to another club within the EU without a transfer fee.
The landmark court case gave players far more power in the final year of their contracts – clubs either had to extend them or lose them for nothing at the end of the season.
Players can now also sign pre-contracts with new clubs from January when their free transfer contracts expire.
The Bosman ruling essentially removed restrictions on EU footballers with expired contracts, giving them the same rights as free agents and increasing freedom of movement.
Even with the United Kingdom leaving the EU, Bosman’s ruling still applies to Premier League clubs.
He said: “This paves the way for the modernization of management, particularly through the use of collective bargaining between employees and employers.
“All professional players affected by these illegal rules can now seek compensation for their losses.
“We are confident that this will force FIFA to submit to the rule of EU law and accelerate the modernization of governance.”
Diarra’s dispute arose in 2014 when he left Lokomotiv Moscow after a disagreement over his salary.
The midfielder was out of contract and later fined £16m by Fifa after the Russian club took the case to Fifa’s chamber seeking compensation.
At the same time, Diarra almost signed for Belgian side Charleroi and they wanted assurances from Fifa that they would not be responsible for that damage if he joined, but those assurances did not come.
FIFA rules require an international transfer certificate to be issued by the league the player is leaving – but the Russian league has not issued one.
As a result, Diarra took legal action against Fifa and the Belgian Football League, seeking loss of earnings, and was initially unsuccessful before the latest ruling.
Lassana Diarra’s career statistics
LASSANA DIARRA played for some of the best clubs in Europe as a defensive midfielder.
He started out at Le Havre before earning his big break with a £4million move to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2005.
Diarra was mostly a rotation option but won the FA Cup and League Cup with the Blues before briefly moving across London to join Arsenal.
But it was at Portsmouth that Diarra made his name, winning a historic FA Cup and earning a whopping £19million in a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Diarra played 117 times in five seasons for Los Blancos, winning one LaLiga title, again under Mourinho, and the Copa Del Rey.
Then came Diarra’s fateful move to Russia, first to Anzhi Makhachkala and then Lokomotiv Moscow, before ending his playing career in his native France with Marseille and then PSG, where he won one Ligue 1 crown.
Le Havre (2003 – 2005)
Chelsea (2005-2007)
Portsmouth (2008-2009)
Real Madrid (2009 – 2012)
Anži Makhačkala (2012 – 2013)
Lokomotiv Moscow (2013-2015)
Marseille (2015 – 2017)
Al Jazeera (2017-2018)
Paris Saint-Germain (2018-2019)
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education