The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that some of Fifa’s transfer rules contradict EU law. The case relates to a challenge brought before the Belgian courts by a former professional footballer.
From his club’s perspective, the rules in question apply when a player breaches his contract before expiry without just cause. He and any other club seeking to employ him are then jointly and severally liable for any compensation due to the old club. Fifa may then instill a temporary ban on the new club’s registration of new players, and the old club’s national association must refuse to issue an International Transfer Certificate to the new club’s association for the duration of the old club’s dispute with the player.
The Court of Appeal of Mons, Belgium, asked the Court of Justice whether those rules accorded with the free movement of workers and competition law. The Court of Justice finds that they “go beyond what is necessary” for their objective, which is to restrict the free movement of players insofar as they serve the public interest – for instance, by “ensuring the regularity of interclub football competitions” and “maintaining a certain degree of stability in the player rosters.”
In a statement posted in April, the President of the worldwide footballers association, Fifpro, spoke of the “draconian consequences” of Article 17 of Fifa’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP).
Fifa has since posted an interview on the case with its Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Emilio García Silvero, who observes that Fifa’s RSTP was arrived at in consultation with the European Commission in 2001, after about three years of “dialogue including footballing stakeholders.” Fifa, he continues, sees the EU court’s decision as an “opportunity to keep modernising its regulatory framework” – such modernization being “one of the declared objectives of the FIFA President since 2016.” He says also that the decision “confirms the sanctity of contracts.” “If players wish to be released from a contract, there will be financial consequences.”
Fifa announced on Oct. 14 that it would open a “global dialogue” with “key stakeholders” to discuss amendments to Article 17 of the RSTP.
