F.I.F.A. – Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2011-2012) – controversie tra società – ———- F.I.F.A. – Players’ Status Committee (2011-2012) – club vs. club disputes – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 11 May 2012, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club, B, as Claimant against the club, M, as Respondent regarding a contractual dispute between the parties and relating to the player A

F.I.F.A. - Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2011-2012) – controversie tra società – ---------- F.I.F.A. - Players' Status Committee (2011-2012) – club vs. club disputes – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 11 May 2012, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club, B, as Claimant against the club, M, as Respondent regarding a contractual dispute between the parties and relating to the player A I. Facts of the case 1. On 1 September 2010, the country P club, B (hereinafter: the Claimant), and the country T club, M (hereinafter: the Respondent), concluded an agreement (hereinafter: the agreement) related to the transfer of the player A (hereinafter: the player) from the Claimant to the Respondent. 2. According to article 3.1 of the agreement “the compensation shall be the net amount of EUR 2,000,000 (…) payable, upon presentation of a total invoice, as follows:” - EUR 100,000 “upon receipt of the ITC or at the latest 07.09.2010”; - EUR 300,000 on 30 September 2010; - EUR 400,000 on 30 December 2010; - EUR 400,000 on 30 April 2011; - EUR 400,000 on 30 December 2011; - EUR 400,000 on 30 April 2012. 3. Article 3.3 of the agreement provided that “interest will accrue and be payable by [the Respondent] to [the Claimant] on the payments which are not made in accordance with clause 3.1. above at the rate of 6% per annum”. 4. On 13 September 2011, the Claimant lodged a claim with FIFA against the Respondent, in relation with said agreement, arguing that the Claimant had only paid the first installment in the amount of EUR 100,000, and claimed, therefore, the payment of EUR 1,900,000 plus interest at the rate of 6% p.a. since 30 September 2010 as well as procedural costs, attorney fees and, expenses of witnesses and experts, if any. 5. In particular, the Claimant held that “since [the Respondent] failed to pay the 2nd installment by 30 September 2010, all the remaining installments became immediately matured and payable, in accordance with article 781 of the country P Civil code (applicable ex vi article 2 of the Rules governing the procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber)”. Equally, the Claimant recalled article 102, paragraph 2 of the Swiss Code of obligation, which allegedly, reads as follows: “Where a deadline for performance of the obligation has been set by agreement or as a result of a duly exercised right of termination reserves by one party, the obligor is automatically in default on expiry of the deadline”. 6. In spite of having been asked to do so, the Respondent never responded to the claim lodged against it. 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 which Procedural Rules are applicable to the matter at hand. In this respect, he referred to art. 21 par. 2 and 3 of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (edition 2008). The present matter was submitted to FIFA on 13 September 2011, thus after 1 July 2008. Therefore, the Single Judge concluded that the 2008 edition of the Procedural Rules (hereinafter: the Procedural Rules) is applicable to the matter at hand. 2. Subsequently, the Single Judge analysed which edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players was applicable as to the substance of the matter. In this respect, he referred, on the one hand, to art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the 2010 edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players and, on the other hand, to the fact that the claim was lodged with FIFA on 13 September 2011. In view of this, the Single Judge concluded that the 2010 edition of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the case at hand as to the substance (cf. art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations). 3. Furthermore, the Single Judge confirmed that, on the basis of art. 3 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules in connection with art. 23 par. 1 and 3 as well as art. 22 lit. f) of the Regulations, he was competent to deal with the present matter since it concerned a dispute between two clubs affiliated to two different associations. 4. His competence and the applicable regulations having been established, and entering into the substance of the matter, the Single Judge started by acknowledging the above-mentioned facts as well as the arguments and the documentation submitted by the parties. 5. In this respect and first of all, the Single Judge established that it was undisputed between the parties that they concluded, on 1 September 2010, an agreement regarding the transfer of the player from the Claimant to the Respondent. Furthermore, the Single Judge noted that the agreement provided for a transfer compensation in the total net amount of EUR 2,000,000, payable as follows: - EUR 100,000 “upon receipt of the ITC or at the latest 07.09.2010”; - EUR 300,000 on 30 September 2010; - EUR 400,000 on 30 December 2010; - EUR 400,000 on 30 April 2011; - EUR 400,000 on 30 December 2011; - EUR 400,000 on 30 April 2012. 6. Equally, the Single Judge further noted that according to article 3.3 of the agreement, the Claimant would have been entitled to a 6% interest per annum, had the Respondent not made the payments in accordance with article 3.1 of the agreement. 7. The Single Judge also acknowledged that the Claimant lodged a claim against the Respondent, stating that the latter had only paid the first instalment in the amount of EUR 100,000. Therefore, the Claimant requested payment of the outstanding amount of EUR 1,900,000 plus 6% interest since 30 September 2010 as well as procedural costs, attorney fees and expenses of witnesses, if any. 8. In this regard, the Single Judge took note as well that the Claimant requested payment of the whole outstanding amount of EUR 1,900,000, namely also of the last two instalments, i.e. due on 30 December 2011 and on 30 April 2012, respectively, which were not yet payable at the time when the claim was lodged, since it alleged that according to the country P Civil code and the Swiss Code of obligation, it was in right to demand the whole amount as a consequence of the fact that the Respondent had not paid on time the second instalment, due on 30 September 2010. 9. In continuation, the Single Judge noted that the Respondent, in spite of having been invited to do so, did not provide FIFA with his comments pertaining to the present matter. Therefore, the Single Judge deemed that, by doing so, the Respondent renounced to its right to defence and accepted the allegations of the Claimant. 10. As a consequence, 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 documentation on file, in other words upon the documents and allegations provided by the Claimant. 11. Bearing in mind the aforementioned, the Single Judge went on to establish whether there was any payment due by the Respondent to the Claimant, based on the transfer agreement in question. 12. In this respect, the Single Judge recalled the contents of article 3.1 of the agreement, i.e. the obligation of the Respondent to pay a transfer fee in the amount of EUR 2,000,000 payable in six different instalments to the Claimant. Equally, the Single Judge recalled that the Claimant stated that the Respondent had only paid the first instalment in the amount of EUR 100,000, without however having made payment of the subsequent instalments of said transfer compensation. 13. Taking into account the above-mentioned, the Single Judge concluded that, to the date of the decision, i.e. on 11 May 2012, the Respondent had to pay to the Claimant the amount of EUR 1,900,000 in five instalments, as stipulated in article 3.1 of the agreement. 14. As regards the Claimant’s request for interest, the Single Judge took into consideration that article 3.3 of the agreement stipulated the right of the Claimant to receive a 6% per annum interest in case the payment were not made in accordance with article 3.1 of the agreement. Consequently, the Single Judge decided to award, interest at a rate of 6% per annum to the Claimant as from the first day after the respective due dates of each instalment. 15. In other words, the Single Judge decided to partially accept the Claimant’s claim, and he established that the Respondent had to pay to the Claimant the total amount of EUR 1,900,000 as well as interest as follows: - 6% p.a. as of 1 October 2010 over the amount of EUR 300,000; - 6% p.a. as of 31 December 2010 over the amount of EUR 400,000; - 6% p.a. as of 1 May 2011 over the amount of EUR 400,000; - 6% p.a. as of 31 December 2011 over the amount of EUR 400,000; - 6% p.a. as of 1 May 2012 over the amount of EUR 400,000. 16. As a side note, the Single Judge was eager to emphasise that the claim of the Claimant for all the outstanding instalments, i.e. for the total amount of EUR 1,900,000, was accepted in view of the fact that all the instalments were due at the time the decision was taken, i.e. 11 May 2012, without, therefore, applying the alleged provisions of the country P Civil code and of the Swiss code of obligations. 17. In addition, the Single Judge addressed the request of the Claimant for “attorney fees and expenses of witnesses and experts”. In this respect, the Single Judge was keen to underline that the Claimant’s request for the above-mentioned costs is rejected in accordance with art. 18 par. 4 of the Procedural Rules and its respective longstanding jurisprudence. 18. Lastly, 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 proceedings before the Players’ Status Committee including its Single Judge, costs in the maximum amount of CHF 25’000 are levied. The relevant provision further states that the costs are to be borne in consideration of the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings (cf. art. 18 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules). 19. In respect of the above, and taking into account that the claim of the Claimant has been partially accepted, the Single Judge concluded that the procedural costs are to be borne by the Respondent. 20. According to Annex A of the Procedural Rules, the costs of the proceedings are to be levied on the basis of the amount in dispute. 21. On that basis, the Single Judge held that the amount to be taken into consideration in the present proceedings is EUR 1,900,000 related to the claim of the Claimant. Consequently, the Single Judge concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 25,000 (cf. table in Annex A). 22. Considering that the case at hand did not pose particular factual difficulty and that it was adjudicated upon by the Single Judge and not the Players’ Status Committee in corpore, the Single Judge determined the costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 20,000. 23. In this respect, the Single Judge took into account that the Claimant had already paid an advance of costs in the amount of CHF 5,000 in accordance with art. 17 of the Procedural Rules. Therefore, the Single Judge decided that the amount of CHF 5,000 has to be paid by the Respondent directly to the Claimant and that the amount of CHF 15,000 has to be paid by the Respondent directly to FIFA. 24. Overall, and taking into account all of the above, the Single Judge decided that the claim of the Claimant was partially accepted and that any further claims of the Claimant are rejected. III. Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee 1. The claim of the Claimant, club B, is partially accepted. 2. The Respondent, club M, has to pay to the Claimant, club B, within 30 days as from the date of notification of this decision the amount of EUR 1,900,000 plus interest at 6% p.a. until the date of effective payment as follows: - 6% p.a. as of 1 October 2010 over the amount of EUR 300,000; - 6% p.a. as of 31 December 2010 over the amount of EUR 400,000; - 6% p.a. as of 1 May 2011 over the amount of EUR 400,000; - 6% p.a. as of 31 December 2011 over the amount of EUR 400,000; - 6% p.a. as of 1 May 2012 over the amount of EUR 400,000. 3. If the aforementioned sum plus interest 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. The final amount of costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 20,000 is to be paid by the Respondent, club M, within 30 days as from the notification of the present decision as follows: 4.1 The amount of CHF 15,000 has to be paid to FIFA to the following bank account with reference to case nr.: UBS Zurich Account number 366.677.01U (FIFA Players’ Status) Clearing number 230 IBAN: CH27 0023 0230 3666 7701U SWIFT: UBSWCHZH80A 4.2 The amount of CHF 5,000 has to be paid directly to the Claimant, club B. 5. Any further claims lodged by the Claimant, club B, are rejected. 6. The Claimant, club B, is directed to inform the Respondent, club M, immediately and directly of the account number to which the remittances are to be made and to notify the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee of every payment received. Note relating to the motivated decision (legal remedy): According to art. 63 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 www.tas-cas.org For the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee Jérôme Valcke Secretary General Encl. CAS directives