The tectonic tensions in the world of football produced a seismic tremor this week. News emerged from the Netherlands of a class action that promised to seek compensation for players whose careers – the case claimed – had been blighted by Fifa’s rules.
The scale of the action, undertaken by the group Justice For Players (JFP), is potentially vast: it holds that every active professional player, male or female, since 2002 could claim against Fifa for about 8% of their career earnings. Coming as a consequence of the European court of justice (CJEU) ruling on the Lassana Diarra case last year, the class action is considered exceptional by many in football because it has the potential to hit a governing body hard in the pocket. Should enough players and former players join, and were it to be successful, Fifa could be liable for a sum in the billions.
Whether that materialises is another matter. The Guardian has spoken to multiple figures within the game, including those close to the JFP action, who regard the likely outcome being one that ends in negotiation, with the hope of achieving substantial systemic changes. The Diarra judgment found that Fifa rules relating to the authorisation of transfers for players restricted freedom of movement, a key tenet of EU law, and that rules requiring buying clubs to cover the cost of compensation for a player who breaks a contract “without just cause” are anticompetitive. One aim for the group, therefore, could be a remedy known as “injunctive relief”, whereby a defendant must carry out a certain action, in this case such as making a set of agreed changes to the transfer rules, alongside paying damages.
Among the possible solutions is a stipulation that release fees are inserted into all footballers’ contracts, as in Spain, although it would be tough to ascertain a universal market value. Another may be that players sign shorter deals, for example for two years with an option, rather than the standard four-plus-one; that would have the effect of reducing transfer fees but could also mean players respond by requesting higher wages.
A key actor in the class action has been Dupont-Hissel, a Belgian law firm. One of its partners, Jean-Louis Dupont, represented Jean-Marc Bosman in the historic 1995 case and the firm has been a consistent thorn in the authorities’ side, also representing the European Super League’s backers in their recent case against Uefa, and the Belgian club RFC Seraing in their successful case against Fifa and Uefa, where they challenged the court of arbitration for sport’s role in the game.
Fifa faces other issues. Last year European Leagues and Fifpro, the global players’ union, announced they had complained to the European Commission over Fifa’s alleged lack of consultation over changes to the international match calendar. In a related action, five European player unions, including the Professional…
Disclaimer
We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We 5guruayurveda.com want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.
Website Upgradation is going on. For any glitch kindly connect at 5guruayurveda.com
