F.I.F.A. – Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2015-2016) – controversie tra società – ———- F.I.F.A. – Players’ Status Committee (2015-2016) – club vs. club disputes – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 24 November 2015, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club, Club A, country B as Claimant against the club, Club C, country D as Respondent regarding a contractual dispute between the parties relating to the Player E Player E (Club A, country B / Club C, country D) I.

F.I.F.A. - Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2015-2016) – controversie tra società – ---------- F.I.F.A. - Players’ Status Committee (2015-2016) – club vs. club disputes – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 24 November 2015, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club, Club A, country B as Claimant against the club, Club C, country D as Respondent regarding a contractual dispute between the parties relating to the Player E Player E (Club A, country B / Club C, country D) I. Facts of the case 1. On 6 February 2015, the club from country B, Club A (hereinafter: the Claimant), and the club from country D, Club C (hereinafter: the Respondent), concluded a transfer agreement for the transfer of the player, Player E (hereinafter: the player), from the Claimant to the Respondent. The aforesaid transfer agreement stipulated, inter alia, that: “3. TRANSFER FEE 3.1. The transfer fee payable by the [Respondent] to the [Claimant] amounts 9,250.000.00 (nine million two hundred and fifty thousand). 3.2. The [Respondent] commits itself to pay the transfer fee to the bank account of the [Claimant] specified in the Article 7 of this Contract before 15 March 2015. (…) 4. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARTIES 4.1. The [Respondent] shall pay a late payment penalty hereunder in the amount of 0.5 per cent of the overdue amount for each day of delay.” 2. On 27 May 2015, the Claimant lodged a claim in front of FIFA against the Respondent for breach of contract indicating that the Respondent had failed to pay the transfer fee stipulated in clause 3.1. of the transfer agreement. In view of the foregoing, the Claimant requested the payment of 9,250,000 (approx. EUR 33,851) plus 0.5% interest “of the outstanding amount for each day of delay until effective date of payment” as well as procedural costs. 3. In spite of having been invited by FIFA to provide its position regarding the claim, the Respondent did not respond to the claim or make any statements at all during the course of the investigation. II. Considerations of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee 1. First of all, the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee (hereinafter: the Single Judge) analysed which Procedural Rules were applicable to the matter at hand. In this respect, he referred to art. 21 of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (edition 2015; hereinafter: the Procedural Rules) as well as to the fact that the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 27 May 2015, thus after 1 March 2015. Therefore, the Single Judge concluded that the 2015 edition of the Procedural Rules is applicable to the matter at hand. Player E (Club A, country B / Club C, country D) 3 2. Subsequently, the Single Judge analysed which edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players is applicable as to the substance of the matter. In this respect, he referred, on the one hand, to art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the 2015 editions of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players and, on the other hand, to the fact that the claim was lodged in front of FIFA on 27 May 2015. In view of the foregoing, the Single Judge concluded that the 2015 edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the case at hand as to the substance. 3. Furthermore, the Single Judge confirmed that, on the basis of art. 3 par. 1 and par. 2 of the Procedural Rules in connection with art. 23 par. 1 and par. 3 as well as art. 22 lit. f) of the Regulations, he was competent to deal with the present matter since it concerned a dispute between two clubs affiliated to two different associations. 4. His competence and the applicable regulations having been established, the Single Judge entered into the substance of the matter. In doing so and first of all, the Single Judge observed that the Respondent had not submitted any comments in response to the claim lodged against it by the Claimant despite having been asked to do so by FIFA. Therefore, the Single Judge concluded that in this way the Respondent had renounced to its right of defence and thus it had to be assumed that it had accepted the allegations of the Claimant. 5. Bearing in mind the aforementioned, the Single Judge referred to art. 9 par. 3 of the Procedural Rules and pointed out that in the present matter a decision shall be taken upon the basis of the documents on file, in other words, upon the allegations and documents provided by the Claimant. 6. In this respect, and first of all, the Single Judge noted that the parties had concluded on a contract for the definitive transfer of the player from the Claimant to the Respondent, according to which the latter would pay to the former the amount of 9,250,000, in exchange for the acquisition of the services of the player. 7. Furthermore, the Single Judge also noted that the parties had agreed in article 4.1 of the contract upon the following provisions: “The [Respondent] shall pay a late payment penalty hereunder in the amount of 0.5 per cent of the overdue amount for each day of delay”. 8. The Single Judge then reverted to the allegations of the Claimant and noted that it had claimed that the Respondent had failed to pay the transfer compensation under article 3 of the contract and that it was thus entitled, on Player E (Club A, country B / Club C, country D) 4 the basis of articles 3.1. of the contract, to the amount of 9,250,000, together with an interest rate of 0.5% per day as of the due date, i.e. 180% per annum. 9. In view of the above, and starting with the amount claimed by the Claimant under article 3.1 of the contract, the Single Judge pointed out that it remains uncontested that such an amount, which represented the transfer compensation agreed upon between the parties, was never paid by the Respondent. Consequently, the Single Judge concluded that the amount of 9,250,000 was still outstanding and should therefore be paid by the Respondent to the Claimant in compliance with the contract. 10. The Single Judge then turned his attention to the request of the Claimant for a late payment interest of 0.5% per day on the transfer compensation as stipulated in article 4.1. In this respect, after having again analysed the specific content of each article and in view of the total amount of the transfer compensation agreed between the parties under article 3.1 of the contract, i.e. 9,250,000, the Single Judge deemed that granting a late payment interest of 0.5% per day was, under the particular circumstances of the case at hand, clearly excessive. In particular, the Single Judge emphasised that the interest rate would amount to 180% per annum, which is considered to be disproportionate in accordance with the well established jurisprudence of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee. Instead, the Single Judge decided to award 5% per annum on the amount of 9,250,000 as from 15 March 2015. 11. In view of all of the above, the Single Judge decided to partially accept the Claimant’s claim and held that the Respondent must pay to the Claimant the amount of 9,250,000, plus interest of 5% per annum as from 15 March 2015 until the effective date of payment. 12. Furthermore and for the sake of good order, the Single Judge decided that any further claims from the Claimant, including its request of procedural costs (cf. art. 18 par. 3 of the Procedural Rules), should be rejected. 13. Lastly, the Single Judge referred to art. 25 par. 2 of the Regulations in combination with art. 18 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules, according to which, in proceedings before the Players’ Status Committee including its Single Judge, costs in the maximum amount of CHF 25’000 are levied. The relevant provision further states that the costs are to be borne in consideration of the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings (cf. art. 18 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules). 14. In respect of the above, the Single Judge held that the amount to be taken into consideration in the present proceedings is 9,250,000, which amounts to approx. EUR 33,851, related to the claim of the Claimant. Consequently, the DRC Player E (Club A, country B / Club C, country D) 5 concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 5,000 (cf. table in Annex A). 15. As a result, and taking into account the degree of success as well as that the Respondent never took stance in the procedure, the Single judge determined the costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 5,000,000, of which CHF 1,000 shall be borne by the Claimant and CHF 4,000 by the Respondent. ***** Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee 1. The claim of the Claimant, Club A, is partially accepted. 2. The Respondent, Club C, has to pay to the Claimant, within 30 days as from the date of notification of the present decision, the amount of 9,250,000 plus 5% interest p.a. on said amount as of 15 March 2015 until the date of effective payment. 3. In the event that the amount plus interest due to the Claimant in accordance with the above-mentioned number 2. is not paid by the Respondent within the stated time limit, the present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for consideration and a formal decision. 4. Any further claim lodged by the Claimant is rejected. 5. The final costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 5,000 are to be paid, within 30 days of notification of the present decision, as follows: 5.1. The amount of CHF 4,000 has to be paid by the Respondent to FIFA to the following bank account with reference to case nr. xxxxxxxxxx: UBS Zurich Account number 366.677.01U (FIFA Players’ Status) Clearing number 230 IBAN: CH27 0023 0230 3666 7701U SWIFT: UBSWCHZH80A Player E (Club A, country B / Club C, country D) 6 5.2. The amount of CHF 1,000 has to be paid by the Claimant to FIFA. Given that the Claimant has already paid the amount of CHF 1,000 as advance of costs at the start of the present proceedings, no additional amount has to be paid by the Claimant. 6. The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent directly and immediately of the account number to which the remittances are to be made in accordance with the above point 2. and to notify the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee of every payment received. ***** Note relating to the motivated decision (legal remedy): According to article 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 Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee: Markus Kattner Acting Secretary General Encl. CAS Directives