Lass Diarra will revolutionize football!

This case could have the same impact as the Bosman ruling in 1995. The Court of Justice of the European Union singled out FIFA this Friday in the case of the Diarra affair by considering that certain transfer rules were “contrary to the law” of the EU, in particular on the free movement of players.

The former French international challenged, ten years ago, the conditions of his departure from Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow. This departure was accompanied by financial penalties which pushed Sporting de Charleroi to abandon its recruitment.

The case pitted the former Paris Saint-Germain player and the players’ union FIFPro against FIFA and the Belgian Football Federation (URBSFA). At the start of the 2014-2015 season, Lass Diarra, under contract with Lokomotiv Moscow for a year, criticized his club for an unreasonable salary cut before learning a few weeks later that his contract had been terminated.

The Russian club subsequently claimed that the player had no longer fulfilled his contract and was demanding 20 million euros before the Fifa disputes chamber and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The player came up against the fears of several interested parties regarding his situation, including Charleroi.

Towards a big change in the world of football?

This ruling could have significant repercussions on the transfer market in professional football, forcing FIFA to rethink its rules to align them with European laws. For players, this represents a major step forward in their right to freely choose where to pursue their career, without being hampered by overly strict regulations. To be continued…