The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled this Friday that some FIFA rules on the international transfer of professional footballers “are contrary to European Union Law by hindering the free movement of players and restricting competition between players.” clubs.” This matter was brought to Community Justice by a court in Mons (Belgium) in the case of former Real Madrid footballer Lass Diarra, in 2014.
In 2013, the French footballer signed a four-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia). In August 2014, the club terminated the contract and asked the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber to order the athlete to pay compensation of 20 million euros for breach of contract. The Russian team alleged that Diarra did not attend several training sessions by his own decision. Instead, the midfielder argued that Lokomotiv removed him from the team due to his performance.
After the termination of his contract, the footballer reached an agreement with Charleroi, a Belgian club, but FIFA prevented his signing and denied him transfer permission as he had unpaid debts with the Russians. The player was also fined 10 million. The Federation relied on its current transfer regulations to prevent him from signing for the club. It was then that Diarra took the case to Belgian justice and in 2017 the Charleroi Commercial Court agreed with him. This court ruled that article 17.2 of FIFA violates the community right of the European Union to the free movement of workers and forced FIFA to compensate the midfielder.
Following this ruling, the highest international football body and the RBFA (the Belgian football federation) elevated the case to the CJEU, which has ruled in favor of the footballer and will force FIFA to change its transfer regulations.