F.I.F.A. – Players’ Status Committee / Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori – club vs club disputes / controversie tra società – (2017-2018) – fifa.com – atto non ufficiale – Decision 27 September 2017

Decision of the Single Judge

of the Players’ Status Committee

passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 27 September 2017,

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

I. Facts of the case

1. On 31 August 2016, the club of Country B, Club A (hereinafter: the Claimant), and the club of Country D, Club C (hereinafter: the Respondent), signed a loan agreement, according to which the Respondent agreed upon the temporary transfer of the Player E (hereinafter: the player), from 1 September 2016 until 30 June 2017. According to said loan agreement, the Respondent undertook to pay a loan fee to the Claimant in the amount of EUR 1,250,000, payable in two instalments as follows:

 EUR 600,000 by 1 November 2016;

 EUR 650,000 by 1 April 2017.

2. On 23 January 2017, the Claimant put the Respondent in default of payment of the first instalment of the loan fee, granting the latter a deadline of five days to remedy the default.

3. On 23 March 2017, the Claimant lodged a complaint before FIFA against the Respondent, explaining that the latter had still not paid the loan fee agreed upon for the temporary transfer of the player.

4. As a result, the Claimant claimed from the Respondent the payment of EUR 600,000, plus 5% interest p.a. as of 2 November 2016, as well as legal costs.

5. In spite of having been invited to do so, the Respondent did not provide its position to the Claimant’s claim.

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 whether he was competent to deal with 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 2017). Consequently, and since the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 23 March 2017, the Single Judge concluded that the 2017 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 present matter.

2. Furthermore, the Single Judge confirmed that, on the basis of art. 3 par. 1 and 2 of the Procedural Rules in connection with art. 23 par. 1 and 3 as well as art.

22 f) of the 2016 edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, he was competent to deal with the present matter since it concerned a dispute between two clubs affiliated to different associations.

3. Subsequently, the Single Judge 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, he referred to art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the 2016 editions of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players as well as to the fact that the claim was lodged with FIFA on 23 March 2017. In view of the foregoing, the Single Judge concluded that the 2016 edition of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter as to the substance.

4. His competence and the applicable regulations having been established and entering into the substance of the matter, the Single Judge started his analysis by acknowledging the facts of the case and the arguments of the parties as well as the documents contained in the file. However, the Single Judge emphasised that in the following considerations he will refer only to the facts, arguments and documentary evidence that he considered pertinent for the assessment of the matter at hand.

5. In doing so, 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.

6. Hence and 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.

7. In this respect, the Single Judge acknowledged that, on 31 August 2016, the parties concluded an agreement, regarding the temporary transfer of the player to the Respondent, in exchange of the payment by the latter of the amount of EUR 1,250,000, to the Claimant, as follows:

 EUR 600,000 by 1 November 2016;

 EUR 650,000 by 1 April 2017.

8. In continuation, the Single Judge observed that, in its claim, the Claimant requested the payment of the amount of EUR 600,000, due by the Respondent on 1 November 2016.

9. Bearing in mind the foregoing and in accordance with the general legal principle of pacta sunt servanda, which in essence means that agreements must be respected by the parties in good faith, as well as taking into account that the Respondent never contested the allegations of the Claimant, the Single Judge concluded that the Respondent has to pay to the Claimant the amount of EUR 600,000 corresponding to the first instalment of the loan fee agreed by the parties.

10. In addition, as per the Claimant’s claim for interest and in accordance with his longstanding jurisprudence, the Single Judge granted the Claimant interest at the rate of 5% p.a. as of 2 November 2016 on the relevant amount of EUR 600,000.

11. Moreover, the Single Judge decided to reject the Claimant’s claim pertaining to legal costs in accordance with art. 18 par. 4 of the Procedural Rules and the Players’ Status Committee’s respective longstanding jurisprudence in this respect.

12. In view of all the above, the Single Judge decided that the claim of the Claimant is partially accepted and that the Respondent has to pay to the Claimant the total amount of EUR 600,000, plus 5% interest p.a. as of 2 November 2016.

13. Finally, 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 the proceedings before the Players’ Status Committee and the Single Judge, costs in the maximum amount of CHF 25,000 are levied. The costs are to be borne in consideration of the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings and are normally to be paid by the unsuccessful party.

14. In this respect, the Single Judge reiterated that the claim of the Claimant is partially accepted and that the Respondent is the party at fault. Therefore, the Single Judge decided that the Respondent has to bear the entire costs of the current proceedings in front of FIFA.

15. Furthermore and 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. Consequently and taking into account that the total amount at dispute in the present matter is over CHF 200,001, the Single Judge concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 25,000.

16. Considering the particular circumstances of the present matter, bearing in mind that the Respondent did not reply to the claim of the Claimant, the Single Judge determined the costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 25,000 and concluded that said amount has to be paid by the Respondent in order to cover the costs of the present proceedings.

17. Consequently, the Respondent has to pay CHF 25,000 to cover the costs of the present proceedings.

III. 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 total amount of EUR 600,000, plus an interest at a rate of 5% per year on the said amount from 2 November 2016 until the date of effective payment.

3. If the aforementioned amount, plus interest as established above, is not paid within the aforementioned deadline, the present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee for consideration and a formal decision.

4. Any other claims lodged by the Claimant are rejected.

5. The final costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 25,000 are to be paid by the Respondent, within 30 days as from the notification of the present decision as follows:

5.1 The amount of CHF 20,000 has to be paid directly to FIFA to the following bank account with reference to case nr. XXX:

UBS Zurich

Account number 366.677.01U (FIFA Players’ Status)

Clearing number 230

IBAN: CH27 0023 0230 3666 7701U

SWIFT: UBSWCHZH80A

5.2 The amount of CHF 5,000 has to be paid directly to the Claimant.

6. The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent immediately and directly of the account number to which the remittances under point 2. and 5.2 are to be made and to notify the Players’ Status Committee of every payment received.

*****

Note relating to the motivated decision (legal remedy):

According to article 58 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

For the Single Judge of the

Players’ Status Committee

Marco Villiger

Chief Legal & Integrity Officer

Encl. CAS Directives