A general counsel of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) pointed out now that some rules of FIFA regarding the transfer of players may be contrary to European law on free movement of persons and free competition.
“These rules are restrictive in nature and can only be justified in specific circumstances,” considered the attorney general assigned to the case, Maciej Szpunar, figure that the conclusions are not binding on the court based on Luxembourg but they usually guide the court’s final decision.
The player, whom the Court did not identify in its statement, is the Frenchman Lassana Diarraformer football player Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-GermainBesides others.
The athlete challenged the rules applicable to contractual relations between players and clubs contained in the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RETJ), adopted by FIFAresponsible for the organization of football competitions around the world.
They govern cases of litigation between a player and a club regarding the termination of a contract and provide that the footballer and the club wishing to recruit him are jointly responsible for the payment of any compensation due to his former club.
In addition, sporting and financial sanctions can be imposed on the player and his new club in case of non-compliance, in the same way that, as long as the dispute between the footballer and his former club continues, the federation where this club belongs can refuse the issuance of the certificate of international transfer in favor of the new federation of which the new club is a member.
After leaving the FK Anzhi Makhachkala Russian, Diarrhea signed for him Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013 and, a year later, the club terminated the contract citing the alleged breach and “termination of the contract without just cause”.
He Locomotive request compensation before the Dispute Resolution Chamber of FIFA and the midfielder responded by demanding payment of the salary owed.
Diarrhea He said it was difficult for him to find equipment because the rules of FIFA They point out that a possible new club will be jointly responsible for the dispute between the footballer and the Locomotive.
According to the footballer, this situation is disappointing in his possible acquisition of Charleroi Belgian, so he sued the FIFA and to the Belgian Federation before a Belgian court, where it claimed six million euros in damages and loss of earnings.
The Belgian court transferred the CJEU a preliminary question to clarify whether these regulations are contrary to Community law and, in the opinion of the advocate general, they may be contrary to laws on competition and free movement of persons.
“There is no doubt that RETJ It has inherent restrictions with respect to free circulation. These provisions may discourage or prevent clubs from acquiring players for fear of economic risk,” the lawyer argued according to a statement from CJEU.
The jury added that “the sporting sanctions faced by the clubs that recruit the player can effectively prevent a player from carrying out his professional activity at a club in another Member State.
Regarding the rules of competition, the judge believes that, by its very nature, the regulations of FIFA “limits the possibility of players to change clubs and, in relation, of (new) clubs to take on players, when the player terminates his contract without just cause.”
“In this way, by limiting the ability of clubs to take players, the RETJ necessarily affect the competition between clubs in the market for the acquisition of professional players,” he maintained.
However, in its conclusions it specified that applying competition restrictions “it must be proven that they are reasonable to achieve one or more legitimate objectives and that they are strictly necessary for that objective.”
Szpunar explained this reasoning about restrictions on free movement, which “can be justified if it is shown that it is possible not to apply the rule of joint and multiple liability when it is proven that the new club is not involved in the early and unreasonable resolution. of that player’s contract.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
