FIFA has to tremble: world football is threatened with a huge earthquake today

FIFA must be trembling
World football is threatened with a huge earthquake today

October 4, 2024, 7:30 a.m

Are FIFA’s transfer rules illegal? The highest European court is deciding on this question today. Depending on the outcome, the verdict could have far-reaching consequences for international football.

What is autumn about? Former French professional footballer Lassane Diarra complains about certain FIFA transfer rules. He was signed by Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013. After just a year it broke. The club terminated the contract and demanded compensation. The former national player in turn sued the club for outstanding standards. He claimed that the search for a new club was difficult.

Because according to FIFA rules, any new club would be liable for paying compensation to the former club if a contract with a player was unfounded. A contract with the Belgian club Sporting du Pays de Charleroi was not concluded. Diarra then sued FIFA and the Belgian Football Association for damages and loss of earnings amounting to six million euros. The Belgian court referred the case to the ECJ.

How a decision could be made? An indication of how the judges could decide is the opinion of Attorney General Maciej Szpunar. He supported Diarra in his report. He concluded that the transfer system could be unlawful. FIFA’s rules are such that clubs shy away from signing players for fear of financial risk. Potential sanctions against clubs could actually prevent players from practicing their profession at a club in another country. This may restrict the EU right to freedom of movement.

In addition, the FIFA rules affected competition between clubs because they reduced the opportunities to sign players, it said in the final submissions. However, the violations of EU regulations on freedom of movement and competition could be justified if they pursue a legitimate aim. The judges often follow the opinion of the advocate general, but not always. In last year’s ruling on the Super League, for example, the judges decided completely opposite to the Attorney General’s requests.

What impact could the ruling have? In principle, the ECJ only rules on the questions submitted to it. The national court – in this case the Belgian one – must then decide the specific case, taking into account the legal opinion of the ECJ. If the judges are clearly similar to the Attorney General and affirm that FIFA has violated EU law, the transfer system in football could be turned on its head. Because then FIFA might have to change its rules.

The English tabloid Guardian fears “anarchy”, the Belgian sports law experts Robby Houben, Oliver Budzinski and Melchior Wathelet wrote in an article that the likely “practical result of Diarra” will be “that the transfer system in football as we know it “Case is brought”. An ECJ ruling has already changed world football forever: with the so-called Bosman ruling, players were no longer allowed to charge transfer fees after their contract ended. However, it would also be conceivable that the ECJ would change the transfer system as a whole left untouched and FIFA only needs to make a little improvement – for example, design the rules in such a way that the new club does not have to be jointly liable with the player if the club was not involved in the termination of the contract.