Some of the transfer rules of world soccer’s governing body FIFA go against EU laws on free movement, the EU’s top court said yesterday in a ruling on a high-profile case linked to former France international Lassana Diarra.
The ruling came after Diarra, 39, legally challenged FIFA rules following a dispute with a club dating back to a decade ago.
Diarra had signed a four-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013, but the deal was terminated a year later after Diarra was unhappy with alleged pay cuts.
Photo: AFP
Lokomotiv applied to the FIFA dispute resolution chamber for compensation and the player submitted a counterclaim seeking compensation for unpaid wages.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport found the Russian club terminated the contract with Diarra “with just cause” and the player was ordered to pay 10.5 million euros (US$11.6 million).
Diarra said his search for a new club was hampered by FIFA rules stipulating that any new side would be jointly responsible with him for paying compensation to Lokomotiv.
“Some FIFA rules on international transfers of professional footballers are contrary to EU law,” the Court of Justice said in a statement.
“The rules in question are such as to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club,” it added.
The former Real Madrid player also argued that a potential deal with Belgian club Charleroi fell through because of the FIFA rules, and sued FIFA and the Belgian federation at a Belgian court for damages and loss of earnings of 6 million euros.
With the lawsuit still going through Belgian courts, the case was referred to the EU’s Court of Justice for a ruling.
The Diarra case, which is supported by the global players’ union FIFPro, went through FIFA judicial bodies before the 2016 election of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has made it a priority to modernize transfer market rules.
FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players say a player who terminates a contract before its term “without just cause” is liable to pay compensation to the club, and when the player joins a new club they would be joint and severally liable for payment of compensation.
The court said that FIFA can only restrict free competition with its transfer rules if it can demonstrate that it is indispensable and necessary to protect the market, which the court said likely was not the case.
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