F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber / Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie – solidarity contribution/ contributo di solidarietà – (2019-2020) – fifa.com – atto non ufficiale – Decision 19 June 2020

Decision of the

Single Judge of the sub-committee of the Dispute Resolution Chamber

passed on 19 June 2020,

regarding training compensation for the player Eleoenai TOMPTE

BY:

Johan van Gaalen (South Africa), Single Judge of the sub-committee of the Dispute Resolution Chamber

CLAIMANT:

Livelife SA, Ghana

RESPONDENT:

RIMINI FOOTBALL CLUB S.R.L., Italy

I. FACTS OF THE CASE

1. According to the player’s passport issued by the Ghana Football Association (hereinafter: GFA), the player, Eleoenai TOMPTE (hereinafter: the player), born on 18 January 1999, was registered with Livelife SA (hereinafter: the Claimant), as follows:

Club

Registration dates

Status

Type

Livelife SA

01.08.2011 - 31.07.2012

Amateur

Permanent

Livelife SA

01.08.2012 - 31.07.2013

Amateur

Permanent

Livelife SA

01.08.2013 - 31.07.2014

Amateur

Permanent

Livelife SA

01.08.2014 - 07.02.2015

Amateur

Permanent

2. Pursuant to the information provided by the GFA, the sporting seasons in Ghana start on 1 August and end on 31 July each year.

3. Moreover, according to the information contained in the Transfer Matching System (hereinafter: TMS) and according to the player player’s passport issued by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (hereinafter: FIGC), the player was registered with two of its affiliated clubs, as an amateur, respectively with RIMINI FOOTBALL CLUB S.R.L. (hereinafter: the Respondent) as from 6 December 2017 until 30 June 2018 and with CALCIO AVELLINO SSDARL as from 14 September 2018 until 30 June 2019.

4. According to the information contained in the TMS, the Respondent belonged to the category III at the time the player was registered with the Respondent.

5. On 7 December 2019, the Claimant lodged a first claim against the Respondent in front of FIFA (ref. TMS 5255) claiming training compensation on the basis that the player, in March 2018, was registered for the first time as a professional with the Respondent, i.e. before the end of the season of his 19th birthday.

6. Following this, the transfer of the player having not been entered in TMS, the claim has been closed by the FIFA administration on 14 January 2020 due to the fact that the alleged registration of the player as a professional did not occur in accordance with art. 1 par. 6 of Annexe 3 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations).

7. On 9 March 2020, the Claimant lodged a second claim in front of FIFA claiming the payment of training compensation from the Respondent on the same basis as in its first claim. In particular, the Claimant is claiming in the amount of USD 40,000 on the basis of the player’s first registration as a professional with the Respondent in March 2018.

8. In this context, the Claimant argued that, inter alia, the “the player had become a professional for the first time in March 2018 when [the Respondent] transferred the player's registration on a loan basis to SPAL 2013 for the 70th edition of the Viareggio Cup (…). Article 5 of the Viareggio Cup regulations states, "teams participating in the Viareggio Cup will be able to use all registered players both outright and on loan in the current football season". (…) in March 2018, the player was not an outright registered member of SPAL 2013, thus confirming that the player being permitted to play for SPAL 2013 at the 70th edition of the Viareggio Cup in March 2018 was on the basis of a loan transfer of his registration from [the Respondent] (his parent/owning club at that specific time) to SPAL 2013”.

9. Moreover, the Claimant further sustained that the Respondent had “admitted by way of their own official press release that the registration of the player was subject to a loan transfer from [the Respondent] to Spal 2013 in the 2017/2018 season”, in accordance with art. 10 par. 1 RSTP.

10. As such, in the Claimant’s opinion, “the June 2019 FIGC issued player passport (…) fails to indicate that during the 2017/2018 season, the player was loaned by [the Respondent] to Spal 2013 and played for Spal 2013 (as a registered player) at the 70th edition of the Viareggio Cup held in March 2018 and scored two (2) goals in two (2) matches at the tournament (…). The same FIGC issued player passport further fails to indicate that the player's original club since the season of his 12th birthday was [the Claimant] prior to the player joining [the Respondent] in Italy. The aforementioned missing information on the FIGC issued player passport with respect to the player's footballing career since the season of his 12th birthday confirms that the FIGC issued document is inaccurate”.

11. For its part, despite having been invited to do so, the Respondent did not reply to the claim.

12. Finally, upon being requested by FIFA, the FIGC provided an official clarification by means of which it stated that the player “has been registered only with our Clubs Rimini and Avellino in the periods indicated in the sport passport. We also confirm that both Clubs, in these periods, participated in Amateur championship”.

II. CONSIDERATIONS OF THE SINGLE JUDGE OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CHAMBER

1. First of all, the Single Judge of the sub-committee of the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Single Judge) analysed whether he was competent to deal with the case at hand. In this respect, he took note that the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 9 March 2020 and the decision passed on 19 June 2020. Taking into account the wording of art. 21 of the June 2020 edition of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Procedural Rules), the 2019 edition of the Procedural Rules is applicable to the matter at hand (cf. article 21 of the Procedural Rules).

2. Subsequently, the Single Judge referred to art. 3 of the Procedural Rules, which states that the Dispute Resolution Chamber shall examine its jurisdiction in light of arts. 22 to 24 of the Regulations (June 2020 edition). In accordance with art. 3 of Annexe 6 in conjunction with art. 24 par. 3 and art. 22 lit. d) of the Regulations, the Single Judge is competent to decide on the present dispute relating to training compensation between clubs belonging to different associations handled through TMS.

3. Furthermore, and taking into consideration that the player was registered with the Respondent on 6 December 2017, the Single Judge analysed which regulations should be applicable as to the substance of the matter. In this respect, he confirmed that, in accordance with art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations, the March 2020 edition of the Regulations is applicable to the matter at hand as to the substance.

4. The competence of the Single Judge and the applicable regulations having been established, the Single Judge entered into the substance of the matter. The Single Judge started by acknowledging the above-mentioned facts of the case as well as the documentation on file. However, the Single Judge emphasized that in the following considerations he will refer only to the facts, arguments and documentary evidence which he considered pertinent for the assessment of the matter at hand. In particular, the Single Judge recalled that, in accordance with art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 3 of the Regulations, FIFA may use, within the scope of proceedings pertaining to the application of the Regulations, any documentation or evidence generated or contained in the TMS.

5. First of all, the Single Judge recalled that, in accordance with the player’s passport issued by the GFA, the player, born on 18 January 1999, was registered as an amateur with the Claimant on a permanent basis as from 1 August 2011 until 7 February 2015. Thereafter, in December 2017, the player was registered as an amateur with the Respondent on a permanent basis, the registration having occurred on 6 December 2017. In addition, in accordance with the the information available in TMS, with the player’s passport as provided by the FIGC and with the official confirmation of the FIGC, the Single Judge observed that the player was registered with the Respondent, as an amateur, until 30 June 2018 and, subsequently, with the Italian club CALCIO AVELLINO SSDARL as from 14 September 2018 until 30 June 2019, still as an amateur.

6. In continuation, the Single Judge took note that the Claimant asserted that it was entitled to receive training compensation from the Respondent in the amount of USD 40,000 in view of the first registration as a professional with the Respondent occurred in March 2018.

7. In this respect, the Single Judge noted that the Claimant had lodged a first claim in front of FIFA on 7 December 2019 which had been closed by the FIFA administration in January 2020 on account of the fact that the alleged registration of the player as a professional did not occur in accordance with art. 1 par. 6 of Annexe 3 of the Regulations.

8. As such, the Single Judge recalled that the present matter was the consequence of the second claim lodged by the Claimant against the Respondent in front of FIFA on 9 March 2020 whereby the Claimant sustained that, inter alia, the player took part to the 70th edition of the Viareggio Cup with the Italian club SPAL 1913 (hereinafter: Spal) in March 2018 on “the basis of a loan transfer of his registration from [the Respondent]” which confirmed that “the player had become a professional for the first time in March 2018 when [the Respondent] transferred the player's registration on a loan basis to SPAL 2013” to participate to the aforementioned tournament.

9. In addition, the Single Judge observed that, in support of its arguments, the Claimant submitted various documents such as, inter alia, press releases referring to the alleged loan of the player from the Respondent to Spal and to the alleged participation of the player to the aforementioned tournament, email correspondence that occurred between the Claimant and the Respondent by means of which the Respondent allegedly requested the Claimant to renounce to its entitlement to training compensation with respect to the player, and, other evidence suggesting in the Claimant’s opinion that the player had been registered as a professional in March 2018 with the Respondent.

10. Furthermore, the Single judge noted that the Respondent had been given the opportunity to reply to the claim submitted by the Claimant, but that the Respondent had failed to present its response in this respect. In this way, so the Single judge deemed, the Respondent renounced to its right of defence and, thus, accepted the allegations of the Claimant.

11. As a consequence of the preceding consideration, the Single judge established that in accordance with art. 9 par. 3 of the Procedural Rules he shall take a decision upon the basis of the documents on file.

12. In this context, the Single Judge highlighted that the main issue in the present matter is whether to determine if the player was effectively registered for the first time as a professional with the Respondent in March 2018, as sustained by the Claimant.

13. In consideration of the above-mentioned issue, the Single Judge, and hereby referring to the rules applicable to training compensation, started by stating that, as established in art. 20 of the Regulations as well as in art. 1 par. 1 of Annexe 4 in combination with art. 2 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations, training compensation is payable, as a general rule, for training incurred between the ages of 12 and 21 when a player is registered for the first time as a professional before the end of the season of the player’s 23rd birthday or when a professional is transferred between clubs of two different associations before the end of the season of the player’s 23rd birthday. In case the latter occurs, art. 3 par. 1 sent. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations sets forth that training compensation will only be owed to the player’s former club for the time he was effectively trained by that club.

14. Furthermore, according to art. 1 par. 6 of Annexe 3 of the Regulations, every international transfer within the scope of eleven-a-side football must be entered in TMS. If the player will be registered as an amateur by the new association, the transfer instruction shall be entered in TMS by the club(s) holding a TMS account, or, in the case of a club not holding a TMS account, by the association concerned.

15. In other words, the Single Judge emphasised that the nature of the player’s first registration as a professional with the Respondent, i.e. not as an amateur, has not been reflected in the present matter, neither by an international transfer of the player with a registration with the Respondent in TMS, nor by the international player’s passport as provided by the FIGC. In the contrary, the Single Judge took note that the FIGC provided an official clarification by means of which it stated that the player “has been registered only with our Clubs Rimini and Avellino in the periods indicated in the sport passport. We also confirm that both Clubs, in these periods, participated in Amateur championship”.

16. As such, and as detailed in its position in point II/8. and II/9., despite having supported its claim with various documents, the Single Judge deemed that the provided evidence by the Claimant according to which the player had allegedly been registered as a professional with the Respondent in March 2018, was not conclusive.

17. Following the above, the Single Judge pointed out that referring to art. 12 par. 3 of the Procedural Rules, in accordance with which any party claiming a right on the basis of an alleged fact shall carry the burden of proof, the Single Judge took into account that the Claimant failed to present documentary evidence in support of its allegation that the player was effectively registered for the first time as a professional with the Respondent in March 2018. Consequently, the Single Judge decided that the Claimant’s allegations in this regard cannot be accepted.

18. In the light of all of the above, and in particular bearing in mind the fact that the Claimant failed to provide conclusive evidence as to the player’s first registration as a professional with the Respondent before the end of the season of his 19th birthday, supposedly in March 2018, the Single Judge decided that it must reject the claim put forward by the Claimant.

19. In continuation, 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 Dispute Resolution Chamber relating to disputes regarding training compensation, costs in the maximum amount of CHF 5,000 are levied. The costs are to be borne in consideration of the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings.

20. However, in this respect, the Single Judge referred to art. 18 par. 1. ii. of the Procedural Rules according to which, for any claim lodged prior to 10 June 2020 which has yet to be decided, the maximum amount of the procedural costs shall be equivalent to any advance of costs paid. Thus, considering that no advance of costs was paid in this matter, no procedural costs can be awarded.

21. On account of all the above, the Single Judge concluded his deliberations by deeming that the claim of the Claimant should be rejected.

III. DECISION OF THE SINGLE JUDGE OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CHAMBER

1. The claim of the Claimant, Livelife SA, is rejected.

For the Single Judge of the sub-committee of the Dispute Resolution Chamber:

Emilio García Silvero

Chief Legal & Compliance Officer

NOTE RELATED TO THE APPEAL PROCEDURE:

According to article 58 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes, this decision may be appealed against before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of the notification of this decision.

NOTE RELATED TO THE PUBLICATION:

FIFA may publish this decision. For reasons of confidentiality, FIFA may decide, at the request of a party within five days of the notification of the motivated decision, to publish an anonymised or a redacted version (cf. article 20 of the Procedural Rules).

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Fédération Internationale de Football Association

FIFA-Strasse 20 P.O. Box 8044 Zurich Switzerland

www.fifa.com | legal.fifa.com | psdfifa@fifa.org | T: +41 (0)43 222 7777