F.I.F.A. – Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie (2013-2014) – contributo di solidarietà – ———- F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber (2013-2014) – solidarity contribution – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 31 July 2013, in the following composition: Geoff Thompson (England), Chairman Ivan E. Gazidis (England), member Joaquim Evangelista (Portugal), member on the claim presented by the club, Club P, from country B as Claimant and the club, Club A, from country P as Respondent regarding solidarity contribution in connection with the international transfer of the player M

F.I.F.A. - Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie (2013-2014) - contributo di solidarietà – ---------- F.I.F.A. - Dispute Resolution Chamber (2013-2014) - solidarity contribution – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 31 July 2013, in the following composition: Geoff Thompson (England), Chairman Ivan E. Gazidis (England), member Joaquim Evangelista (Portugal), member on the claim presented by the club, Club P, from country B as Claimant and the club, Club A, from country P as Respondent regarding solidarity contribution in connection with the international transfer of the player M I. Facts of the case 1. In accordance with the information provided by the country B Football Federation, Player M (hereinafter: the player), born in 1987, was registered with its affiliated club, Club P (hereinafter: the Claimant), on 10 July 2002. As to the date marking the end of the player’s registration with Claimant, the country B Football Federation indicated that no official confirmation could be found and that the International Transfer Certificate (ITC) of the player was never issued. 2. The country B Football Federation confirmed that when the player was registered with the Claimant, the sporting season in country B ran from 1 January to 31 December. 3. In accordance with the player passport issued by the country B Football Confederation, the player was registered with its affiliated club, Club V, from 25 October 2004 to 18 March 2007. According to country P Football Confederation, the player was not registered with any of its affiliated clubs from 1 January 1999 until 24 October 2004. 4. The country P Football Confederation confirmed that the player was registered with Club A (hereinafter: the Respondent) on 24 January 2012. Further, the country P Football Confederation confirmed that the sporting season ran from 1 January to 31 December. 5. On 10 April 2012, the Claimant lodged a claim before FIFA claiming the payment of its proportion of the solidarity contribution related to the transfer of the player from the Club S, from country U, to the Respondent. 6. In particular, the Claimant claimed a proportion of 20.96% out of the 5% of solidarity contribution plus interest as of 30 days from the registration of the player. 7. In this regard, the Claimant held, considering the country P Football Federation has no registration of the departure of the player, to be “considering that the player registered with Club P until 24 October 2004, which is exactly one day before his registration for Club V”. The required proportion results from the assumption made by the Claimant that the player must have been registered with them until the player’s next official registration record available, ie his registration with the Club V, from country P on 25 October 2004. 8. According to the information contained in the Transfer Matching System (TMS), Shakhtar and the Respondent agreed, inter alia, upon a transfer compensation in the amount of EUR 4,000,000, to be paid in five instalments as follows: - EUR 1,500,000 on 15 January 2012; - EUR 625,000 on 1 July 2012; - EUR 625,000 on 15 December 2012; - EUR 625,000 on 1 July 2013; and - EUR 625,000 on 15 December 2013. 9. In spite of having been invited by FIFA to do so, the Respondent did neither respond to the claim nor make any statements during the course of the investigation. II. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber 1. First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the DRC or the Chamber) analysed whether it was competent to deal with the matter at stake. In this respect, it referred to art. 21 par. 2 and 3 of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber. The present matter was submitted to FIFA on 10 April 2012. As a consequence, the Chamber concluded that the 2008 edition of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Procedural Rules) is applicable to the matter in hand. 2. With regard to the competence of the Chamber, art. 3 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules states that the Dispute Resolution Chamber shall examine its jurisdiction in the light of arts. 22 to 24 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2012). In accordance with art. 1 par. 1 of the aforementioned Regulations, which describes the scope of the relevant Regulations, in connection with articles 24 par. 1 and 22 d) of said Regulations, the Dispute Resolution Chamber is competent to decide on the present litigation with an international dimension concerning the distribution of the solidarity contribution claimed by the Claimant, the country B club, in connection with the international transfer of the professional player, Player M, to the country P club, Club A . 3. Furthermore, and taking into consideration that the player was registered for the Respondent on 24 January 2012, the Chamber analysed which edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players should be applicable as to the substance of the matter. In this respect, it confirmed that in accordance with art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2012), the previous edition (2010) of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter in hand as to the substance. 4. The competence of the DRC and the applicable regulations having been established, the DRC entered into the substance of the matter. In doing so, the DRC started by acknowledging the above-mentioned facts of the case as well as the documents contained in the file. 5. First and foremost, the members of the DRC went on to recall that according to art. 21 in connection with Annexe 5 of the Regulations, as a general rule, if a professional player moves during the course of a contract, 5% of any compensation, not including training compensation paid to his former club, shall be deducted from the total amount of this compensation and distributed by the new club as a solidarity contribution to the club(s) involved in the training and education of the player in proportion to the number of years the player has been registered with the relevant club(s) between the seasons of his 12th and 23rd birthday. 6. In this respect, the Chamber took note that the Respondent and Club S had agreed upon a transfer compensation in the amount of EUR 4,000,000, to be paid in five instalments. 7. In continuation, the DRC took note that country B Football Federation confirmed that the player was registered with the Claimant on 10 July 2002 and, on the other hand, indicated that no official confirmation of the date marking the end of the player’s registration with the Claimant could be found as well as that the ITC of the player was never issued. 8. Moreover, the DRC took note that, according to the country P Football Federation, the player was registered with its affiliate, Club V, on 25 October 2004 and that before that date, i.e. from 1 January 1999 until 24 October 2004, the player was not registered with any of its affiliated clubs. 9. At this moment, the DRC noted that the Claimant claimed the payment of the amount corresponding to a proportion of 20.96% out of the 5% of solidarity contribution plus interest as of 30 days from the registration of the player. 10. Having said that, the DRC referred to the basis of the Claimant’s claim. In particular, the DRC pointed out that the Claimant stated having made its request on the assumption that the player must have been registered with them as from 10 July 2002 until the player’s next official registration record available, i.e. his registration with the country P club, Club V, on 25 October 2004. 11. In this regard, the DRC made reference to the legal principle of the burden of proof, according to which any party claiming a right on the basis of an alleged fact shall carry the burden of proof (cf. art. 12 par. 3 of the Procedural Rules). 12. In view of the above, the Chamber concluded that the Claimant shall carry the burden of proof as to its right to a proportion of 20.96% out of the 5% of solidarity contribution in connection with the transfer. 13. In continuation, the Chamber took note that the Claimant had not provided any evidence proving that the player was either registered or trained with them during the period of time relevant to its claim, i.e. from 10 July 2002 until 24 October 2004. 14. On the basis of all these considerations, the DRC unanimously concluded that the Claimant had failed to satisfy the burden of proof and to submit clear evidence that it actually trained the player for the alleged period of time and thus its claim for solidarity contribution must be rejected. 15. In continuation, the deciding authority referred to art. 25 par. 2 of the Regulations in combination with art. 18 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules, according to which in the proceedings before the Dispute Resolution Chamber relating to disputes regarding solidarity mechanism costs in the maximum amount of currency of country C 25,000 are levied. The costs are to be borne in consideration of the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings. 16. In this respect, the Chamber reiterated that the claim of the Claimant is rejected. Therefore, the Claimant has to bear the costs of the current proceedings in front of FIFA. 17. According to Annexe A of the Procedural Rules, the costs of the proceedings are to be levied on the basis of the amount in dispute. 18. The amount in dispute to be taken into consideration in the present proceedings amounts to EUR 41,920 related to the claim of the Claimant. Therefore, the Chamber judge concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to currency of country C 5,000 (cf. table in Annexe A of the Procedural Rules). 19. Considering that the case at hand allowed to be dealt with following a reasonable procedure, that the case was adjudicated by the Chamber, that the present case did not show particular factual difficulty and that it did not involve specific legal complexity, the Chamber determined the final amount of costs of the current proceedings to the amount of currency of country C 3,000. 20. In view of all of the above, the DRC concluded that the amount of currency of country C 3,000 has to be paid by the Claimant to FIFA to cover the costs of the present proceedings. ***** III. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber 1. The claim of the Claimant, Club P, is rejected. 2. The final amount of costs of the proceedings in the amount of currency of country C 3,000 is to be paid by the Claimant to FIFA, within 30 days of notification of the present decision, to the following bank account with reference to case no.: ***** Note relating to the motivated decision (legal remedy): According to art. 67 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes, this decision may be appealed against before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The statement of appeal must be sent to the CAS directly within 21 days of receipt of notification of this decision and shall contain all the elements in accordance with point 2 of the directives issued by the CAS, a copy of which we enclose hereto. Within another 10 days following the expiry of the time limit for filing the statement of appeal, the appellant shall file a brief stating the facts and legal arguments giving rise to the appeal with the CAS (cf. point 4 of the directives). The full address and contact numbers of the CAS are the following: Court of Arbitration for Sport Avenue de Beaumont 2 1012 Lausanne Switzerland Tel: +41 21 613 50 00 Fax: +41 21 613 50 01 e-mail: info@tas-cas.org www.tas-cas.org For the Dispute Resolution Chamber: Jérôme Valcke Secretary General Encl. CAS directives