F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber / Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie – solidarity contribution / contributo di solidarietà – (2020-2021) – fifa.com – atto non ufficiale – Decision 17 November 2020
Decision of the
Single Judge of the sub-committee of
The Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 17 November 2020
regarding solidarity contribution in connection with the transfer of the player Ahmed
MUSA from Leicester City FC (England) to Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia)
BY:
Stefano Sartori (Italy), Single Judge of the sub-committee of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
CLAIMANT:
LEARNING FOOTBALL ACADEMY,
Nigeria
RESPONDENT:
AL NASSR, Saudi Arabia
I. FACTS OF THE CASE
Player: Ahmed MUSA
Date of birth: 14 October 1992
Player passport: issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on 20 July 2016
Season Birthday Club(s) Registration dates Status
2004 12th Aminchi Football
Academy
15/10/04 – 31/12/04 Amateur
2005 13th Aminchi Football
Academy
01/01/05 – 31/12/05 Amateur
2006 14th Aminchi Football
Academy
01/01/06 – 31/12/06 Amateur
2007 15th Aminchi Football
Academy
01/01/07 – 31/12/07 Amateur
2008 16th Aminchi Football
Academy
01/01/08 – 31/12/08 Amateur
2009 17th JUTH FC 01/01/09 – 30/09/09 Professional
Kano Pillars FC 01/10/09 - 31/12/09 Professional
2010 18th Kano Pillars FC 01/01/10 – 15/10/10 Professional
Sporting season: 1 January to 31 December (Nigeria)
Date of transfer: 9 August 2018, from Leicester City FC (England) to Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia)
Conditions: Fixed transfer fee of EUR 18,000,000, net and exclusive of solidarity
contribution, payable as follows:
a. EUR 6,000,000 on 15 August 2018;
b. EUR 6,000,000 on 31 July 2019;
c. EUR 6,000,000 on 31 July 2020;
Claimant club: Learning Football Academy (Nigeria), formerly known as JUTH FC
Respondent club: Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia)
Claim and Response:
1. On 6 September 2020 the Claimant lodged a claim with FIFA and requested the payment of
EUR 22,440 as solidarity contribution on the third instalment of the fixed transfer fee, plus “5%
interest pa until the debt is paid”.
2. On 2 October 2020, the FIFA administration submitted a proposal to the parties, informing them
that it was of the opinion that the Respondent should pay the amount of EUR 22,440 to the
Claimant.
3. On 15 October 2020, the Respondent rejected the proposal of the FIFA administration.
4. In this respect, the Respondent contested the calculation made by the FIFA administration, and
argued that the sum of EUR 22,273.97 was the one due to the Claimant.
5. Furthermore, the Respondent maintained that the interest should be paid as of the date of claim,
in line with Swiss Law and CAS jurisprudence.
II. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Applicable law: Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP): June 2018 edition.
Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the
Dispute Resolution Chamber (Procedural Rules): June 2020 edition.
Jurisdiction: Yes, uncontested
Admissible: Yes, uncontested
Decision:
1. The Claimant is requesting the payment of its portion of solidarity contribution on the third
instalment of the fixed transfer fee.
2. The Respondent does not contest the entitlement of the Claimant to receive solidarity
contribution for the training and education provided to the player.
3. It is undisputed that the player was registered with the Claimant as from 1 January 2009 until
30 September 2009, corresponding to 273 days of the season of the player’s 17th birthday.
4. It is also uncontested that the Respondent did not pay to the Claimant its portion of the solidarity
contribution generated by the third instalment of the transfer fee.
5. In this regard, the amount to be taken into consideration is EUR 6,000,000.
6. The Respondent and Leicester City FC agreed that the payment due to the Respondent as
transfer compensation for the player did not include solidarity contribution. Therefore, solidarity
contribution shall be calculated in addition to the relevant transfer compensation.
7. Hence, 5% shall be added over the net amount of the third instalment of the transfer fee, i.e.
EUR 6,000,000, to obtain said instalment inclusive of solidarity.
8. The amount obtained corresponds to EUR 6,315,789, of which 5% shall be deducted as
solidarity contribution as per art. 21 and Annexe 5 RSTP, that is to say EUR 315,789.
9. The Claimant is entitled to receive its portion of the due solidarity contribution for the training
and education provided to the player during the course of the season of the player’s 17th birthday
in accordance with the player passport o reference.
10. As per art. 1 par. 1 of Annexe 5 RSTP, solidarity contribution for the season of a player’s 17th
birthday amounts to 10% of the total solidarity contribution, in casu EUR 31,578.95.
11. If the player is registered for less than a year this amount shall be calculated pro rata (cf. Art. 1
par. 1 of Annexe 5 RSTP).
12. The player was registered with the Claimant for 273 days of his 17th birthday season. Therefore,
the Claimant is entitled to receive 7.48% of the due solidarity contribution, i.e. 7.48% of EUR
31,578.95 which amount to EUR 23,621.05.
13. Nevertheless, the Claimant limited its claim to the sum EUR 22,440.
14. In line with the legal principle of non ultra petita, the Claimant shall be awarded solidarity
contribution in the amount of EUR 22,440.
15. Taking into account the specific request of the Claimant and in accordance with the wellestablished
jurisprudence of the DRC, the latter shall be granted 5% interest p.a. as from 31
August 2020, i.e, as from the day after the payment of solidarity contribution on the third
instalment became due.
16. Consequently, the claim of the Claimant is accepted.
17. No procedural costs shall be ordered as per FIFA Circular Nr. 1720 and art. 18 of the Procedural
Rules.
18. The relevant provisions of art. 24bis RSTP are applicable in the present matter.
III. DECISION
1. The claim of the Claimant, Learning Football Academy, is accepted.
2. The Respondent, Al Nassr, shall pay to the Claimant EUR 22’440 as solidarity contribution, plus
5% interest per annum on that amount as from 31 August 2020, until the date of effective
payment.
3. The Claimant shall immediately inform the Respondent of the bank account to which the
Respondent must pay the due amount (including all applicable interest).
4. The Respondent shall provide evidence of full payment to psdfifa@fifa.org. If applicable, the
evidence shall be translated into an official FIFA language (English, French, German, Spanish).
5. If the due amount (including all applicable interest) is not paid by the Respondent within 45 days
as from notification of the bank account details, the following consequences shall apply:
1.
2.
The Respondent shall be banned from registering any new players, either nationally or
internationally, up until the due amount is paid and for the maximum duration of three
entire and consecutive registration periods.
The ban will be lifted immediately, and prior to its complete serving, following confirmation
that the due amount (including all applicable interest) has been received by the Claimant.
3.
In the event that the payable amount as per in this decision is still not paid by the end of
the ban of three entire and consecutive registration periods, the present matter shall be
submitted, upon request, to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
6. No procedural costs are payable (cf. arts. 17 par. 1 and 18 par. 1 of the Rules Governing the
Procedure of the Players’ Status Committee and Dispute Resolution Chamber).
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:
Pursuant to article 58 paragraph 1 of the FIFA Statutes, this decision may be appealed before the
Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days of notification.
NOTE RELATED TO 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
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