FIFA goes “engage in global dialogue with key stakeholders“of football to review part of its regulations on transfers following the Lassana Diarra ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, she announced on Monday. “With them, FIFA will determine the conclusions to be drawn from the Diarra affair and the relevant changes to be made to Article 17 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTJ),” said the director of the legal division of the International Federation Emilio Garcia Silvero in a press release.
FIFA will always act in accordance with European law
The lawyer plans in particular to discuss “parameters for calculating compensation and sanctions in the event of contractual breach“et you”mechanism for issuing the International Transfer Certificate” allowing players to change clubs. “FIFA will always act in accordance with European law“, assures Garcia Silvero. Representatives of players and clubs had called for the development of a collective agreement in football to regulate the transfer market, following a decision by the European justice system on October 4 in the Diarra affair.
In dispute with his former club Lokomotiv Moscow, the former French international midfielder was ordered in 2016 to pay a fine of 10.5 million euros for abusive termination of his contract. Any clubs wishing to recruit this player could be responsible for the fine imposed, according to a point in the FIFA regulations precisely contested before the CJEU. The Court had ruled that certain FIFA rules governing transfers between clubs were contrary to EU law and “likely to hinder free movement” professional footballers.
“We need a collective agreementthe lawyer for the global union Fifpro, Pieter Paepe, explained to AFP. The rules must be negotiated between players and clubs; it is not up to FIFA, a private law entity, to unilaterally regulate this employment relationship.“.
