The decision that could change the movement of the market

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will announce its decision on October 4 at Lassana Diarra case‘and can change the future market transfer and player contracts. According to ‘RMC Sport’, that day could mean before and after the transfer window, depending on the decision made regarding the former Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid and PSG footballer, among others.

“This case is very important because it affects the applicability and legality of certain FIFA rules on the transfer system, in particular the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP),” the CJEU said in a press release.

The case refers to the controversial departure of Lass Diarra from the Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014 and the failure of his move to Belgian Charleroi. At the start of the 2014-15 season, the former French international, who had a one-year contract with the Russian club, criticized his club for a pay cut he considered unjustified before learning, a few weeks later, that his contract has had. finished.

Lokomotiv, for its part, said that the player did not fulfill his contract and is asking for 20 million euros before the FIFA Disputes Chamber and Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The player, then, ran into the fears of some interested clubs about his legal situation. “This investigation is difficult, according to him, because of the risk weighing on the new club to be sentenced with Diarra himself to pay the compensation corresponding to Lokomotiv,” explained those in charge of the file.

In fact, article 17 of the FIFA Regulations on the status and transfer of players regarding the consequences of terminating the contract “without just cause” is clear and the “co-debit” mechanism is supposed to protect the clubs from the unilateral termination of the contract. Belgian side Charleroi were interested in Diarra and sent a letter in February 2015 with two conditions. But one of the two was not executed, which caused the signing to fail. The Dispute Resolution Chamber then sentenced Diarra to pay 10.5 million euros to Lokomotiv. The player appealed to the courts with a procedure that brought him to the Court of Appeal of Mons, which came in January before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In May, the first lawyer general of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Polish Maciej Szpunar, gave his conclusions in accordance with Diarra in this case against FIFA. He considered that “certain FIFA rules relating to the transfer of players may conflict with Union law.” “These provisions are likely to deter and prevent clubs from signing the player for fear of financial risk. The sporting sanctions faced by clubs signing the player can effectively prevent a player from plying his trade to a club located in another Member State”. Case to follow. On October 4, the decision.