F.I.F.A. – Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2014-2015) – controversie tra società – ———- F.I.F.A. – Players’ Status Committee (2014-2015) – 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 14 October 2014, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club Club A, country B as Claimant against the club Club C, country D as Respondent regarding a contractual dispute between the parties relating to the player Player E

F.I.F.A. - Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2014-2015) – controversie tra società – ---------- F.I.F.A. - Players' Status Committee (2014-2015) – 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 14 October 2014, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club Club A, country B as Claimant against the club Club C, country D as Respondent regarding a contractual dispute between the parties relating to the player Player E I. Facts of the case 1. On 6 January 2012, the club from country B, Club A (hereinafter: the Claimant) and the club from country D, Club C (hereinafter: the Respondent) signed a transfer agreement (hereinafter: the agreement) for the definitive transfer of the player Player E (hereinafter: the player) from the Claimant to the Respondent. 2. The agreement stipulated that the Claimant was entitled to receive from the Respondent the amount of EUR 375,000, payable as follows: a. EUR 125,000 on the date of signature of the employment contract with the player; b. EUR 125,000 on 15 February 2012; c. EUR 125,000 on 15 March 2012. 3. Pursuant to the agreement, the Claimant was also entitled to receive from the Respondent 15% of the player´s future next transfer. 4. On 23 July 2012, the parties signed a second agreement (hereinafter: the amendment) by means of which they agreed a new payment schedule for the rest of the alleged outstanding amount due to the Claimant, i.e. EUR 250,000, as follows: a. EUR 80,000 payable on the date of the signature of the amendment; b. EUR 60,000 payable on 25 September 2012; c. EUR 60,000 payable on 25 October 2012; d. EUR 50,000 payable on 25 November 2012. 5. On 30 January 2013, the Claimant lodged a claim in front of FIFA against the Respondent requesting from the latter the payment of the total amount of EUR 170,000 corresponding to the last three instalments stipulated in the amendment. According to the Claimant, the Respondent only paid the first instalment amounting to EUR 125,000 stipulated in the agreement as well as the first payment of EUR 80,000 stipulated in the amendment. Furthermore, the Claimant alleged having put the Respondent in default by means of a correspondence sent on 3 December 2012, without having received any response from the latter. 6. On 21 May 2014, in response to the claim lodged against it, the Respondent argued that the parties agreed a total amount of EUR 170,000 for the transfer of the player and that they already paid EUR 205,000, corresponding to EUR 170,000 as transfer compensation and to EUR 35,000 representing “overdue interest and legal interest”. 7. In its second submission dated 12 July 2014, the Claimant reiterated its initial allegations and informed FIFA that the Respondent had forged the date of the amendment. According to the Claimant, the amendment was signed on 23 July 2012 as the first payment stipulated in the amendment amounting to EUR 80,000 was due on the date of the signature of the amendment and such payment was made on 23 July 2012. According to the Claimant, the transfer of the player was made on 6 January 2012, and the parties decided to sign the amendment with the new schedule of payments since the Respondent did not fulfil its contractual obligations and did not pay the full transfer compensation as stipulated in the agreement. The Claimant further alleged that the transfer compensation included in TMS was amounting to EUR 375,000 and that the amendment downloaded on TMS did not include any hand-written date. Therefore, the Claimant requested the payment of the outstanding amount of EUR 170,000 and the corresponding interests. 8. In spite of having been invited by FIFA to do so, the Respondent failed to provide its final position. ***** II. Considerations of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee 1. First of all, the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee (hereinafter also referred to as: the Single Judge) analysed whether he was competent to deal with the matter in hand. In this respect, he referred to art. 21 of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (editions 2012 and 2014). Consequently, and since the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 30 January 2013, thus after 1 December 2012 and before 1 August 2014, the Single Judge concluded that the 2012 edition of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Procedural Rules) is applicable to the matter in hand. 2. 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 f) of the 2012 edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, he was competent to deal with the present matter since it concerned a dispute between two clubs affiliated to different associations. 3. Subsequently, the Single 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, he referred, on the one hand, to art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the 2012 and 2014 editions of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players and, on the other hand, to the fact that the claim was lodged in front of FIFA on 30 January 2013. In view of the foregoing, the Single Judge concluded that the 2012 edition of the FIFA Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter as to the substance. 4. His competence and the applicable regulations having been established, and entering into the substance of the present matter, the Single Judge started by acknowledging the above-mentioned facts of the case as well as the documents contained in the file. However, the Single Judge emphasised that in the following considerations it will refer only to the facts, arguments and documentary evidence which he considered pertinent for the assessment of the matter at hand. 5. In this respect, the Single Judge noted that the parties signed a transfer agreement (hereinafter: the agreement) on 6 January 2012, according to which the player would be transferred from the Claimant to the Respondent for the total amount of EUR 375,000 payable in three instalments of EUR 125,000 each, payable on the date of signature of the employment contract with the player, on 15 February 2012 and on 15 March 2012. 6. In continuation, the Single Judge also took note that the parties decided to amend such agreement and concluded another agreement (hereinafter: the amendment) by means of which they agreed a new payment schedule for the rest of the amount due to the Claimant, i.e. EUR 250,000, as follows: a. EUR 80,000 payable on the date of the signature of the amendment; b. EUR 60,000 payable on 25 September 2012; c. EUR 60,000 payable on 25 October 2012; d. EUR 50,000 payable on 25 November 2012. 7. Additionally, the Single Judge observed that, on the one hand, the Respondent argued that the amount agreed for the transfer of the player was EUR 170,000 in accordance with the amendment and that they already made the payment of the sum of EUR 205,000, i.e. EUR 170,000 as transfer compensation for the transfer of the player and EUR 35,000 as “overdue interests and legal interest”, whereas, on the other hand, the Claimant deemed that the Respondent forged the date of the amendment and that such amendment was concluded later on 23 July 2012 in order to modify the schedule payments of the remaining transfer compensation of the player that was initially agreed in the agreement. 8. Furthermore, the Single Judge remarked that, based on the information received from the Claimant during the course of the present investigation, the Respondent had only paid the total amount of EUR 205,000, i.e. the first instalment stipulated in the agreement of EUR 125,000 as well as the first instalment amounting to EUR 80,000 established in the amendment, whereas the remaining instalments stipulated in the amendment amounting to EUR 170,000 were still outstanding. 9. In this respect and in order to establish the total amount agreed between the parties as transfer compensation for the transfer of the player, the Single Judge carefully studied the documentation submitted by the parties, in particular, the agreement and the amendment concluded between the Claimant and the Respondent as well as the documents downloaded in the Transfer Matching System (TMS). 10. In this regard, the Single Judge was keen to emphasise that, according to TMS, the transfer compensation for the transfer of the player from the Claimant to the Respondent was amounting to EUR 375,000 in accordance with the agreement and that the amendment concluded on a later stage did not contain any hand-written date. 11. Having established the aforementioned, the Single Judge recalled the general principle of pacta sunt servanda, which in essence means that agreements must be respected by the parties in good faith, and decided that the Respondent must fulfil the obligation it voluntarily entered into with the Claimant by means of the agreement and amendment signed between the parties. Therefore, the Single Judge held that the Respondent must pay to the Claimant the remaining outstanding transfer compensation agreed upon for the transfer of the player from the Claimant to the Respondent. 12. Therefore and taking into account that the Claimant had acknowledged the receipt of a total amount of EUR 205,000 from the Respondent and that the latter had not proven the payment of the total compensation amounting to EUR 375,000, the Single Judge concluded that the remaining amount of EUR 170,000 was still outstanding and, therefore, should be paid by the Respondent to the Claimant. 13. In view of all of the above, the Single Judge concluded that the Claimant’s complaint against the Respondent is accepted and that, consequently, the Respondent has to pay to the Claimant the total amount of EUR 170,000 together with an interest at a rate of 5% per year as from 12 July 2014, i.e. date of the Claimant’s amended complaint, until the date of effective payment. 14. Finally, 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 and are normally to be paid by the unsuccessful party. 15. In respect of the above and taking into account that the responsibility of the failure to comply with the fully payment of the transfer compensation can entirely be attributed to the Respondent and that the claim of the Claimant has been fully accepted, the Single Judge concluded that the Respondent has to bear the costs of the current proceedings before FIFA. 16. Furthermore and 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. On that basis, the Single Judge held that the amount to be taken into consideration in the present proceedings is over CHF 200,000. Consequently, the Single Judge concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 25,000. 17. In conclusion, and in view of the circumstances of the present matter, the Single Judge determined the costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 20,000. Consequently, and in line with the aforementioned considerations, the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee decided that said amount has to be paid by the Respondent in order to cover the costs of the present proceedings. III. Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee 1. The claim of the Claimant, Club A, is 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 EUR 170,000 plus 5% interest p.a. on said amount as of 12 July 2014 until the date of effective payment. 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 costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 20,000 are to be paid by the Respondent within 30 days as from the date of 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. 5. The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent immediately and directly of the account number to which the remittances under points 2. and 4.2. above 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 article 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 www.tas-cas.org For the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee Jérôme Valcke Secretary General Encl. CAS Directives