Key events
EU top court says Fifa player transfer rules breach law
Reuters – The transfer rules of world soccer’s governing body Fifa go against European Union laws, the EU’s top court said in a ruling on a high-profile case linked to former France player Lassana Diarra on Friday, citing the bloc’s free movement principles.
“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,” said the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) say a player who terminates a contract before its term “without just cause” is liable to pay compensation to the club, and where the player joins a new club they will be joint and severally liable for payment of compensation.
The verdict is in
And it doesn’t look like good news for Fifa. More details to follow …
Per AP: the European Union’s top court says some Fifa rules on international transfers are contrary to EU law.
BREAKING: FIFA’s rules on player transfers go against EU laws, Europe’s top court said in its ruling on the case linked to Lassana Diarra, citing the bloc’s free movement principles.
— Rohith Nair (@RohithNair) October 4, 2024
“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.” – Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
— Rohith Nair (@RohithNair) October 4, 2024
.@FIFAcom takes a dent from the EU courts again.
Judges say the transfer rules (which affected Diarra) are stricter than appear necessary and contrary to EU law on free movement and competition.
— Lewis Crofts (@lewis_crofts) October 4, 2024
David Weaver is an early caller: “I find it odd that since everyone’s woken up to the game-changing possibilities of the Diarra case, very little has been said about Andy Webster. Underachieving mid-level Scottish international centre back he may be, but when he broke his contract with Hearts to force a move to Rangers in 2006, many hailed that as “Bosman 2.0”, as it meant players could buy out their contracts. But it was never the revolution that many thought it would be. I wonder if you could explain why the consequences of that case were never as far reaching as anticipated, and why this case might be more significant?
“PS if you’re looking for some new music, I’d highly recommend the brand new album by Denver, Colorado’s Blood Incantation – a real analogue delight of proggy cosmic death metal, featuring none other than Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning; my album of the year so far”
Players have bought out contracts – this can happen in Spain, if I recall the Ander Herrera case – but it seems costly, so may not happen too often. Perhaps that’s it.
(I am off to see the mighty Dream – in whatever version it is – at the Barbican on Monday.)
Preamble
Good morning, all. A big day ahead of us? It seems so. Perhaps Harry Maguire’s late goal at Porto stopped it all being about Manchester United and Erik ten Hag. United play Aston Villa this weekend, on the crest of a rather different wave.
The big news is the Lassana Diarra case.
“The court of justice of the European Union (CJEU) will deliver a verdict on Friday in the case of Fifa v the player “BZ” – AKA the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra. It concerns the functioning of the transfer market and the verdict could throw a stick of dynamite under the system.”
A new Bosman? Some experts think so. Plenty of reaction to come.
Meanwhile, there will be plenty of Premier League preview bumph to come in. It’s the last weekend before the international break.
Join us.
