FIFA’s transfer rules have been declared ILLEGAL by Europe’s highest court.
In a landmark ruling that could see the entire transfer system ripped up, the European Court of Justice backed former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra in his case against Fifa.
Lassana Diarra has won a court case arguing Fifa broke European labour laws[/caption]
Diarra, 39, sued the world body after it upheld a £16m fine imposed on him by former club Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014 after he was sacked for allegedly boycotting training over a pay dispute.
The case went 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 had broken European labour laws by refusing to issue the International Transfer Certificate which would have allowed him to join another club and exercise his rights as a professional.
And in an eagerly-awaited ruling the ECJ has now declared the current regulations are in breach of EU Law on the free movement of people.
The Court ruled: “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.
“Those rules impose considerable legal risks, unforeseeable and potentially very high financial risks as well as major sporting risks on those players and clubs wishing to employ them which, taken together, are such as to impede international transfers of those players.”
Potential ramifications could be huge depending on the full judgement, which will be published later today.
If the Court has made a strong ruling, it could effectively declare the entire current system is in breach of EU Law.
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That would see Fifa losing its current authority over the transfer system and allow players the right to break their contracts and change clubs with impunity.
In turn, that would end the current “trickle down” system where many smaller clubs are reliant on transfer income.
Such an outcome would lead to big stars being able to hawk their services for free but for huge wages, allowing the wealthiest clubs – including the bulk of the Premier League – the opportunity to hoover up the best talent.
In its summary of the ruling, the Court added: “Restrictions on the free movement of professional players may be justified by overriding reasons in the public interest consisting in ensuring the regularity of interclub football competitions, by maintaining a certain degree of stability in the player rosters of professional football clubs.
“But these rules have as their object the restriction, and even prevention, of cross-border competition by unilaterally recruiting players under contract with another club or players about whom it is alleged that the employment contract was terminated without just cause.
“The possibility of competing by recruiting trained players plays an essential role in the professional football sector.
“Rules which place a general restriction on that form of competition, by immutably fixing the distribution of workers between the employers and in cloistering the markets, are similar to a no-poach agreement.
“Those rules do not appear to be indispensable or necessary.”
Dupont declared the ruling a “total victory”, adding that the Court had “severely censured the structurally illegal actions of the current regulations”.
He said: “This paves the way for a modernisation of governance, in particular through the use of collective bargaining between employees and employers.
“All professional players who have been affected by these illegal rules can therefore now seek compensation for their losses.
“We are convinced that this will force Fifa to submit to the EU rule of law and speed up the modernisation of governance.”
