F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber / Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie – labour disputes / controversie di lavoro (2019-2020) – fifa.com – atto non ufficiale – Decision 5 May 2020

Decision of the

Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) judge

passed on 5 May 2020,

by Pavel Pivarov (Russia), DRC judge

on the claim presented by the player,

Denys Ovsiannikov, Ukraine,

represented by Mr Yuri Yurchenko

as Claimant

against the club,

Sport Club Informatica Timisoara, Romania

as Respondent

regarding an employment-related dispute between the parties

I. Facts of the case

1. On 1 August 2018, the Ukraininan player, Denys Ovsiannikov, (hereinafter: the Claimant), and the Romanian club, Sport Club Informatica Timisoara, (hereinafter: the Respondent) concluded an employment contract valid as from the date of signature until 1 June 2019 (hereinafter: the contract), as per which the Claimant would receive, inter alia, a monthly salary of EUR 2,200.

2. According to the Claimant, he was regularly paid until 30 September 2018, however, in October 2018 he received only EUR 1,100 and the salaries for November and December 2018 have not been paid at all.

3. On 1 January 2019, the Claimant and the Respondent signed an “additional agreement” (hereinafter: the termination agreement), by means of which the parties terminated their contractual relationship and the Respondent confirmed a salary debt towards the Claimant in the amount of EUR 5,500, to be paid in instalments, from 1 March 2019 to 1 November 2019.

4. Pursuant to the termination agreement, “the amount of 5,500 (five thousand five hundred) euro net will be paid [to the Claimant] in the following order:

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 March 2019;

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 April 2019;

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 May 2019;

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 June 2019;

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 July 2019;

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 August 2019;

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 September 2019;

- 500 (five hundred) euro – until 01 October 2019;

- 1500 (one thousand five hundred) euro – until 01 November 2019.”

5. According to the Claimant none of the instalments of the termination agreement were paid by the Respondent.

6. On 19 November 2019, the Claimant put the Respondent in default of payment of EUR 5,500, granting it 10 days to remedy the default, however to no avail.

7. On 13 January 2020, the Claimant lodged a claim against the Respondent in front of FIFA, claiming the payment of EUR 5,500 plus 5% interest p.a. as from 2 November 2019 until the date of effective payment.

8. Despite having been invited to do so, the Respondent did not submit an answer to the claim.

II. Considerations of the DRC judge

1. First of all, the DRC judge analysed whether he was competent to deal with the matter at stake. In this respect, the DRC judge took note that the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 13 January 2020. Taking into account the wording of art. 21 of the 2019 edition of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Procedural Rules), the aforementioned edition of the Procedural Rules is applicable to the matter at hand.

2. Subsequently, the DRC judge referred to art. 3 par. 1 and 2 of the Procedural Rules and confirmed that, in accordance with art. 24 par. 1 and 2 in combination with art. 22 lit. b) of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, the DRC judge is competent to deal with the matter at stake, which concerns an employment–related dispute with an international dimension between a Ukrainian player and a Romanian club.

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, the DRC judge confirmed that, in accordance with art. 26 par. 1 and par. 2 of the said Regulations and considering that the present claim was lodged in front of FIFA on 13 January 2020, the January 2020 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. In this respect, the DRC judge started by acknowledging all the above-mentioned facts as well as the arguments and the documentation submitted by the parties. However, the DRC judge emphasised that in the following considerations it will refer only to the facts, arguments and documentary evidence, which it considered pertinent for the assessment of the matter at hand.

5. In this respect, the DRC judge acknowledged that, on 1 August 2018, the Claimant and the Respondent concluded an employment contract valid as from the date of signature until 1 June 2019, pursuant to which the Respondent undertook to pay to the Claimant a monthly salary of EUR 2,200.

6. Moreover, the DRC judge acknowledged that, on 1 January 2019, the Claimant and the Respondent signed the termination agreement, according to which the Claimant was entitled to receive the amount of EUR 5,500 in instalments due from March to November 2019.

7. Furthermore, the DRC judge took note that, on 17 June 2019, having the Respondent not fulfilled its financial obligation towards the Claimant, the latter put the Respondent in default of payment of EUR 5,500, and granted it 10 days to remedy the default.

8. Having recalled the above, the DRC judge observed that, the Claimant, in his claim lodged on 13 January 2020, claimed the total amount of EUR 5,500, corresponding to the amount agreed by the parties when the termination agreement was concluded.

9. In continuation, the DRC judge took note that the Respondent, for its part, failed to present its response to the claim of the Claimant, despite having been invited to do so. In this way, the DRC judge deemed, the Respondent renounced its right to defence and, thus, accepted the allegations of the Claimant.

10. In light of the above, the DRC judge highlighted that the Respondent must fulfill its obligations as per the termination agreement in accordance with the general legal principle of “pacta sunt servanda”. Consequently, the DRC judge decided that the Respondent is liable to pay to the Claimant the remuneration that was outstanding at the time of the claim was lodged, i.e. the amount of EUR 5,500, corresponding to the salary debt payable to the Claimant.

11. In addition, taking into consideration the claim lodged by the Claimant, as well as the constant practice of the DRC, the DRC judge decided to award the latter 5% interest p.a. on the above mentioned amount as from 2 November 2019 until the date of effective payment.

12. Furthermore, taking into account the consideration under number II./3. above, the DRC judge referred to par. 1 and 2 of art. 24bis of the Regulations, which stipulate that, with its decision, the pertinent FIFA deciding body shall also rule on the consequences deriving from the failure of the concerned party to pay the relevant amounts of outstanding remuneration and/or compensation in due time.

13. In this regard, the DRC judge pointed out that, against clubs, the consequence of the failure to pay the relevant amounts in due time shall consist of a ban from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, up until the due amounts are paid and for the maximum duration of three entire and consecutive registration periods.

14. Therefore, bearing in mind the above, the DRC judge decided that, in the event that the Respondent does not pay the amounts due to the Claimant within 45 days as from the moment in which the Claimant, following the notification of the present decision, communicates the relevant bank details to the Respondent, a ban from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for the maximum duration of three entire and consecutive registration periods shall become effective on the Respondent in accordance with art. 24bis par. 2 and 4 of the Regulations.

15. Finally, the DRC judge recalled that the above-mentioned ban will be lifted immediately and prior to its complete serving upon payment of the due amounts, in accordance with art. 24bis par. 3 of the Regulations.

16. The DRC judge concluded his deliberations in the present matter by establishing that the claim lodged by the Claimant is accepted.

III. Decision of the DRC judge

1. The claim of the Claimant, Denys Ovsiannikov, is accepted.

2. The Respondent, Sport Club Informatica Timisoara, has to pay to the Claimant, within 45 days as from the date of notification of this decision, the amount of EUR 5,500 plus 5% interest p.a. as from 2 November 2019.

3. The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent, immediately and directly, preferably to the email address as indicated on the cover letter of the present decision, of the relevant bank account to which the Respondent must pay the amount mentioned under points 2. above.

4. The Respondent shall provide evidence of payment of the due amounts in accordance with point 2. above to FIFA to the e-mail address psdfifa@fifa.org, duly translated into one of the official FIFA languages (English, French, German, Spanish).

5. In the event that the amount in accordance with point 2. above is not paid by the Respondent within 45 days as from the notification by the Claimant of the relevant bank details to the Respondent, 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 (cf. art. 24bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players).

6. The ban mentioned in point 5. above will be lifted immediately and prior to its complete serving, once the due amount is paid.

7. In the event that the amount due in accordance with point 2. above 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 FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee for consideration and a formal decision.

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Note related to the publication:

The FIFA administration may publish decisions issued by the Players’ Status Committee or the DRC. Where such decisions contain confidential information, 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 Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber).

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). 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. 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:

Emilio García Silvero

Chief Legal & Compliance Officer