Litigator & Counselor
As follow-up to my earlier posts on the Diarra ruling and Viktor Gyokeres’ transfer saga, this edition will take a closer look at the “protected period” in a player’s contract.[1] FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players define this as the contract’s initial two-to-three-year stretch, when an unjustified breach will subject the player, …
Continue reading “FIFA Regs: The Protected Period and its Effect on the Transfer Market”
Viktor Gyokeres has a problem and so far, he has not asked the landmark Diarra ruling[1] to solve it. For at least the past two transfer windows, the Swedish striker has been the market’s resident “missing piece” – the player who would complete a lucky superclub and turn their competitive dreams into reality. So to …
Continue reading “Why the Gyokeres transfer saga is not the Diarra ruling’s moment”
Earlier this month, the Court of Justice for the European Union (the “CJEU”), issued its long-awaited judgment in Diarra[1] – a case that targets the core of FIFA’s transfer system. As expected, subject to confirmation by the lower court, the CJEU struck portions of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (the “RSTP”) …
On October 4, the Court of Justice for the European Union (“CJEU”) will announce its decision in FIFA v. BZ (“Diarra”). Technically, the court will determine whether FIFA’s rules punishing clubs for signing players who break their previous contracts comply with European Union law. But if the CJEU answers this question in the negative, its ruling …
Continue reading “The Chain Reaction that could Upend FIFA’s Transfer System”
Article 19 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players blocks international transfers of players under 18, except in five limited circumstances. One of those is exception (c), which allows the transfer if (1) the player lives within 50 km of a national border, (2) the new club is located within 50 km …
A club’s benefit from solidarity depends on its size – the smaller the club, the more important the payments. Two years ago, I used Sweden’s IF Bromma, then a second-tier side, to illustrate the point. Consistently, Bromma made about €40-45k in solidarity each season (two windows). In the 2021-2022 season (I am using fall-spring, even …
From start to finish, Chelsea drove the story of 2023’s winter transfer window. Like many a good story, this one was well-organized. It began in north, where Chelsea spent €12M to purchase emerging striker David Datro Fofana from Norway’s Molde and flowed downstream to its conclusion in the south, where they handed Benfica €121M for …
Continue reading “David Datro Fofana: From Abidjan to Chelsea and the Fight In Between”
Recently, Major League Soccer has signed several players under age 18 to lengthy (five-to-seven years) professional contracts. While these contract terms exceed the maximum FIFA allows for under 18 players, the contracts are likely valid under US laws. This article discusses creative solutions these players may have to free themselves from their long contracts. On …
Continue reading “Escape Room: Young MLS Signings and the Contracts that (May) Bind Them”
This article was first posted on March 9, 2018 (on Medium). It has undergone minor edits for clarity. In January 2018, Canadian striker Cyle Larin completed a move from Major League Soccer’s Orlando City to Turkish club Besiktas. Reportedly, Besiktas paid Orlando a transfer fee in the neighborhood of $2.3 million. That was the simple part. The …
The following is another article in my series on third-party influence. Previous articles in the series can be found, here, here, and here. Once again, Article 18bis of FIFA’s RSTP forbids a club from entering into any transaction that may allow the counter-club or a third party to influence “in employment and transfer-related matters …
Continue reading “Notes on Third-Party Influence: Confusion over the Level of Influence Prohibited”
Terry Brennan Law 