Court backs ex-Chelsea midfielder in transfer ruling with echoes of Bosman case

Judgment in favour of Lassana Diarra says Fifa regulations stopping footballers joining clubs by tearing up contracts are unlawful

Rules that stop footballers joining a new club if they tear up their existing contracts have been declared unlawful by Europe’s highest court in its biggest ruling on freedom of movement in the game since the Bosman case.
In a judgement issued in relation to a long-running lawsuit brought in Belgium by former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Lassana Diarra, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said that some of Fifa’s regulations on player transfers contravened EU law.
The full implications of the ruling remain to be seen but it seems certain to prevent a repeat of the 15-month ban imposed on Diarra for breach of contract relating to his 2014 exit from Lokomotiv Moscow, whom he was also ordered to pay €10 million (£8.4 million).
Lokomotiv had torn up that contract, arguing he had forced their hand after effectively going on strike amid a row over him being told to take a pay cut.
Diarra, who also played for Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Portsmouth, was sanctioned under Fifa’s regulations on the status and transfer of players (RSTP) that state a player who terminates a contract with a club before its term “without just cause” is liable to pay compensation to the same team, as is any new side he or she joins before the matter is settled.
The latter clause wrecked a bid by Belgian club Charleroi to sign Diarra following his departure from Lokomotiv.
“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 CJEU.
“Those rules impose considerable legal risks, unforeseeable and potentially very high financial risks as well as major sporting risks on those players and clubs wishing to employ them which, taken together, are such as to impede international transfers of those players.”
The CJEU ruling could also lead to other players affected by the Fifa regulations seeking damages.
“All professional players have been affected by these illegal rules (in force since 2001!) and can therefore now seek compensation for their losses,” Diarra’s lawyers Jean-Louis Dupont and Martin Hissel said in a statement.
“We are convinced that this ‘price to pay’ for violating EU law will – at last – force Fifa to submit to the EU rule of law and speed up the modernisation of governance.”
The global players’ union FifPro, which had supported Diarra’s case, said the ruling “will change the landscape of professional football”.
However, it could be some years before any changes to the system take effect, with Friday’s judgement issued in relation to the Belgian court case that remains ongoing.
Fifa said it would “analyse the decision in coordination with other stakeholders before commenting further”.