F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber / Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie – solidarity contribution / contributo di solidarietà – (2016-2017) – fifa.com – atto non ufficiale – Decision 28 January 2016

Decision of the

Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) judge

passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 28 January 2016,

by Theo van Seggelen (the Netherlands), DRC judge,

on the claim presented by the club,

Club A, country B

as Claimant

against the club,

Club C, country D

as Respondent

regarding solidarity contribution in connection with the transfer

of the Player E

Solidarity contribution in connection with the Player E

I. Facts of the case

1. According to the player passport as well as a written confirmation issued by the Football Association of country B, the player from country B, Player E (hereinafter: the player), born on 15 May 1982, was registered with its affiliated club, Club A (hereinafter: the Claimant), as from 18 February 2003 until 30 August 2006 as a professional.

2. The sporting season in country B during the period of time the player was registered with the Claimant followed the calendar year and therefore started on 1 January and ended on 31 December.

3. The Football Federation of country D confirmed that the player was registered with Club C (hereinafter: the Respondent) on 22 July 2013.

4. According to the information contained in the Transfer Matching System (TMS), the club from country G, Club F (hereinafter: Club F), and the Respondent, concluded, on 26 June 2013, an agreement for the transfer of the player from Club F to the Respondent, establishing a transfer fee of USD 1,500,000 payable in one installment. Furthermore, according to the proof of payment contained in TMS, the transfer fee was paid on 1 July 2013.

5. On 20 February 2014, the Claimant contacted FIFA claiming its proportion of the solidarity contribution in connection with the above-mentioned transfer. In particular, it requested 1,43% of the transfer compensation, equivalent to USD 21,450.

6. In its reply to the claim, the Respondent explained that according to the player passport uploaded in TMS, the player was registered with the Claimant as from 1 April 2004 until 30 December 2006. The Respondent stated that, due to the discrepancy of the registration dates of the player, it could not establish which was the correct passport.

7. However, after a clarification of the registration dates by the Football Association of country B indicating that the player was registered with the Claimant as from 18 February 2003 until 30 August 2006, the Respondent repeated its foregoing statement regarding the discrepancy of the passports.

8. Moreover, on 8 December 2015, the Respondent requested the reimbursement of the full 5% of solidarity contribution from Club F, alleging that the transfer compensation was paid to Club F on 1 July 2015, but was not agreed as a net transfer compensation.

II. Considerations of the DRC judge

Solidarity contribution in connection with the Player E

1. First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) judge (hereinafter also referred to as DRC judge) analysed whether he was competent to deal with the matter at hand. In this respect, he took note that the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 20 February 2014. Consequently, the 2012 edition of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: Procedural Rules) is applicable to the matter at hand (cf. art. 21 of the 2012, 2014 and 2015 editions of the Procedural Rules).

2. Subsequently, the DRC judge referred to art. 3 of the Procedural Rules and confirmed that in accordance with art. 24 par. 1 and 2 in combination with art. 22 lit. (d) of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2015), the DRC judge is competent to adjudicate on the present matter, since it concerns a dispute regarding the solidarity mechanism between clubs belonging to different associations.

3. Furthermore, the DRC 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, it confirmed that in accordance with art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (editions 2012, 2014 and 2015), and considering that the player was registered with the Respondent on 22 July 2013, the 2012 edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter at hand as to the substance.

4. The competence of the DRC judge and the applicable regulations having been established, the DRC judge entered into the substance of the matter. The DRC judge started by acknowledging the facts of the case as well as the documentation on file. However, the DRC judge emphasised that in the following considerations he will refer only to the facts, arguments and documentary evidence which it considered pertinent for the assessment of the matter at hand.

5. First of all, the DRC judge took note that the Claimant requested 1,43% of the transfer compensation as solidarity contribution from the Respondent in relation with the transfer of the player from Club F to the Respondent, equivalent to USD 21,450.

6. In addition to the above and referring to art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 2 of the Regulations, the DRC judge took into account that according to the information contained in the TMS, Club F and the Respondent agreed upon a transfer compensation of of USD 1,500,000 payable in one instalment.

7. Moreover, the DRC judge acknowledged that according to the information contained in TMS the transfer compensation was paid on 1 July 2013.

8. In this respect, the DRC judge first of all emphasised, as established in art. 21 in combination with art. 1 of Annexe 5 of the Regulations, if a professional 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

Solidarity contribution in connection with the Player E this compensation and be distributed by the new club as a solidarity contribution to the club(s) involved in the training and education of the player between the seasons of his 12th and 23rd birthday.

9. In continuation, the DRC judge noted that the Respondent alleged that the transfer compensation agreed with Club F was not a net transfer compensation and, therefore, requested the reimbursement of the 5% of solidarity contribution from Club F. In this respect, the DRC judge noted that the Respondent alleged that it had paid the full transfer compensation to Club F on 1 July 2015. However, the DRC judge noted that the partially illegible document submitted by the Respondent does not indicate the alleged date of payment and appears to be the same document uploaded in TMS bearing the date of 1 July 2013.

10. In this regard, the DRC judge referred to art. 25 par. 5 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2012), according to which, inter alia, the Dispute Resolution Chamber shall not hear any case subject to the said Regulations if more than two years have elapsed since the event giving rise to the dispute. Considering the day the payment of the transfer compensation by the Respondent to Club F was made, i.e. 1 July 2013, and the date of the request for the reimbursement of the 5% of solidarity contribution from Club F, i.e. 8 December 2015, the DRC judge considered the request for reimbursement barred by the statute of limitations in accordance with art. 25 par. 5 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2012).

11. In continuation, the DRC judge recalled that the Football Association of country B had confirmed that the player, born on 15 May 1982, was registered with the Claimant as from 18 February 2003 until 30 August 2006 as a professional.

12. On account of the above and in accordance with art. 1 of Annexe 5 of the Regulations, the DRC judge considered that the Claimant is, thus, entitled to receive solidarity contribution for the periods as from 18 February 2003 until 30 August 2006, i.e. for 10 months of the season of the player’s 21st birthday, for 12 months of the season of the player’s 22nd and 23rd birthday.

13. In view of all of the above, the DRC judge decided to partially accept the claim of the Claimant and held that the Respondent is liable to pay the amount of USD 21,247.50 to the Claimant as solidarity contribution in relation to the transfer of the player from Club F to the Respondent.

14. 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, including the DRC judge, relating to disputes regarding solidarity mechanism 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.

Solidarity contribution in connection with the Player E

15. In this respect, the DRC judge reiterated that the claim of the Claimant is partially accepted and established that the Respondent has to bear the costs of the current proceedings in front of FIFA.

16. 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.

17. The amount in dispute to be taken into consideration in the present proceedings amounts to USD 21,450 related to the claim of the Claimant. Therefore, the DRC judge concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 5,000 (cf. table in Annexe A of the Procedural Rules).

18. Considering that the case at hand allowed to be dealt with following a simple procedure, that the case was adjudicated by the DRC judge and that the present case did not show particular factual difficulty the Chamber determined the final amount of costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 3,000.

19. In view of all of the above, the Chamber concluded that the amount of CHF 3,000 has to be paid by the Respondent to cover the costs of the present proceedings.

III. Decision of the DRC judge

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 this decision, the amount of USD 21,247.50.

3. If the aforementioned sum is not paid within the above-mentioned time limit, interest at the rate of 5% p.a. will fall due as of the date of expiry of the stipulated time limit and the present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for its 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 3,000 are to be paid by the Respondent within 30 days as from the date of the notification of the present decision, to FIFA to the following bank account with reference to case nr. XXXX:

UBS Zurich

Account number 366.677.01U (FIFA Players’ Status)

Clearing number 230

IBAN: CH27 0023 0230 3666 7701U

SWIFT: UBSWCHZH80A

Solidarity contribution in connection with the Player E

6. The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent immediately and directly of the account number to which the remittance under point 2. above is to be made and to notify the DRC judge of every payment received.

*****

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

For the DRC judge:

Markus Kattner

Acting Secretary General