Fifa has received a hard blow after the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU, the bloc’s highest court), which warned that some Fifa rules relating to international transfers of players are contrary to European law.
According to the criteria of
The CJEU warned that restrictions on a player’s ability to seek employment at a club after having interrupted his contract with another team “are contrary to EU law.”
what happened
“This is a ruling relating to the former French international footballer Lassana Diarra, who in 2014 broke his contract with el Lokomotiv Moscow, in a case that began an endless judicial battle,” said the AFP agency.
And he added: “Given the difficulties in negotiating a contract with the Belgian club Sporting de Charleroi, Diarra decided to take the case to the Belgian courts, with the support of the world players’ union FIFPro.”
What is known is that “after several twists of the script, the Belgian court took up the case, despite the fact that Fifa considered that it was not competent to do so, and that court made a consultation to the CJEU. In essence, the question was: is the regulation of the status and transfer of players compatible with the EU’s right to competition and free movement?” AFP reported.
The agency added that “in this case, Fifa rules determine that a club interested in hiring a footballer in that situation must assume compensation to the club where the contract was interrupted.”
The CJEU in its ruling determined that “the rules in question prevent the free movement of professional footballers who wish to develop their activity by going to work at a new club.”
And the court clarified that “considerable legal risks, unpredictable and potentially very high financial risks, as well as significant sporting risks are imposed.”
“Together, they are such that they prevent international transfers of these players,” he said. “These rules hinder the free movement of players and competition between clubs,” the CJEU ruled.
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