Following a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union, FIFA said on Monday that it had approved an interim framework on the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
In a dispute involving former Chelsea, Arsenal, and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra, the EU’s highest court ruled in October that some FIFA player transfer regulations violated EU law and free movement principles.
The interim regulatory framework has an impact on the burden of evidence for both compensation payable and inducements to breach a contract, as well as the computation of compensation payable in the event of a violation.
It “must exist in any circumstance in which a party can no longer reasonably and in good faith be expected to continue a contractual relationship,” according to the framework’s basic definition of “just cause.”
The particular calculation parameters that the court found objectionable are no longer the foundation of the interim regulatory framework.
As an alternative, compensation shall be determined objectively and openly to the extent necessary to put the party harmed by a contract violation back in the same situation as before the breach.
Before implementing its temporary changes, which go into effect on January 1, 2025, FIFA asked all major parties to engage in talks.
However, the players’ organisation FIFPRO refused to participate. In a statement, FIFPRO criticised FIFA’s decision and stated that it could not agree on a framework to negotiate changes to the rules to take the finding into account.
“We do not agree with the temporary measures announced by FIFA which have been introduced without a proper collective bargaining process,” FIFPRO said.
“The measures do not provide legal certainty to professional footballers and do not reflect the judgement by the European Court of Justice.”
The CJEU ruling states that refusing to sign the ITC is illegal.
After FIFA ordered Diarra to pay Lokomotiv 10 million euros ($11 million) in damages in 2015, the player filed a lawsuit in a municipal court against the Belgian FA and soccer’s world governing body for damages.
