F.I.F.A. – Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie (2015-2016) – indennità di formazione – ———-F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber (2015-2016) – training compensation – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 3 September 2015, in the following composition: Thomas Grimm (Switzerland), Deputy Chairman Philippe Diallo (France), member Mohamed Mecherara (Algeria), member Johan van Gaalen (South Africa), member Leonardo Grosso (Italy), member on the claim presented by the club, Club A, country B as Claimant against the club, Club C, country D as Respondent regarding a training compensation dispute related to the transfer of the Player E

F.I.F.A. - Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie (2015-2016) - indennità di formazione – ----------F.I.F.A. - Dispute Resolution Chamber (2015-2016) - training compensation – official version by www.fifa.com – Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 3 September 2015, in the following composition: Thomas Grimm (Switzerland), Deputy Chairman Philippe Diallo (France), member Mohamed Mecherara (Algeria), member Johan van Gaalen (South Africa), member Leonardo Grosso (Italy), member on the claim presented by the club, Club A, country B as Claimant against the club, Club C, country D as Respondent regarding a training compensation dispute related to the transfer of the Player E I. Facts of the case 1. According to the player passport issued by the Football Federation of country B, the player, Player E (hereinafter: the player), born on 3 December 1996, was registered with its affiliated clubs as follows: - Club F from 24 April 2007 until 30 June 2008 as an amateur; - Club A (hereinafter: the Claimant), from 24 September 2008 until 30 June 2009 and from 22 September 2009 until 30 June 2010 as an amateur; - Club G from 6 July 2010 until 30 June 2011, from 4 October 2011 until 30 June 2012 and from 17 July 2012 until 30 June 2013 as an amateur. 2. According to the information contained in the Transfer Matching System (TMS), the Claimant belonged to the category IV (indicative amount of EUR 10,000 per year within UEFA) during the period when the player was registered with the club. 3. The football season in country B lasts from 1 July until 30 June of the following year. 4. According to the information contained in the TMS, the player was registered with Club C from country D (hereinafter: the Respondent), on 10 June 2014 as a professional. 5. Furthermore, according to the information contained in the TMS, the Respondent belonged to the category II (indicative amount of EUR 60,000 per year within UEFA) during the season when the player was registered with the club. 6. On 22 April 2015, the Claimant contacted FIFA requesting training compensation in an amount of EUR 53,698.62 plus 5% interest p.a. as from 1 August 2013 on the ground that the player, on 10 August 2013, was registered as a professional for the first time with the Respondent. 7. In spite of having been invited by FIFA to provide its position regarding the claim, the Respondent did not respond to the claim or make any statements at all during the course of the investigation. II. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber 1. First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter also referred to as DRC or Chamber) analysed whether it was competent to deal with the case at hand. In this respect, it took note that the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 22 April 2015. Consequently, the 2015 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 at hand (cf. art. 21 of the 2015 edition of the Procedural Rules). 2. Subsequently, the members of the Chamber referred to art. 3 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules and confirmed that in accordance with art. 24 par. 1 in combination with art. 22 lit. d) of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2015), the Dispute Resolution Chamber is competent to deal with the matter at stake relating to training compensation between clubs belonging to different associations. 3. Furthermore, the Chamber 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 10 June 2014, 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 and the applicable regulations having been established, the Chamber entered into the substance of the matter. The members of the Chamber started by acknowledging the facts of the case as well as the documentation on file. However, the DRC 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. First of all, the DRC took note that the Claimant maintained that it is entitled to receive training compensation from the Respondent in the amount of EUR 53,698.62, indicating that the player had signed his first professional contract with the Respondent before the end of the season of his 23rd birthday. 6. Equally, the DRC noted that the Respondent failed to present its response to the claim of the Claimant, despite having been invited to do so. Therefore, the DRC deemed that, in this way, the Respondent renounced its right to defence and, thus, accepted the allegations of the Claimant. 7. As a consequence of the aforementioned consideration, the DRC established that in accordance with art. 9 par. 3 of the Procedural Rules it shall take a decision upon the basis of the documents already on file, in other words upon the statements and documents presented by the Claimant. 8. Having established the above, the DRC, and hereby referring to the rules applicable to training compensation, started by stating that, as established in art. 20 of the Regulations as well as in art. 1 par. 1 of Annexe 4 in combination with art. 2 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations, training compensation is payable, as a general rule, for training incurred between the ages of 12 and 21, when a player is registered for the first time as a professional before the end of the season of the player’s 23rd birthday or when a professional is transferred between clubs of two different associations before the end of the season of the player’s 23rd birthday. Based on the documentation provided by the Football Federation of country B and the information contained in TMS, the Chamber concluded that it could indeed be established that the player had been registered for the first time as a professional with the Respondent. 9. In this respect, the members of the Chamber recalled again that the Respondent had not replied to the claim of the Claimant and therefore ruled that the Respondent did not provide any argument which would justify the nonpayment of training compensation to the Claimant. 10. Subsequently, the DRC considered that it had to determine which should be the relevant amount of training compensation to be paid by the Respondent to the Claimant. In this regard, the DRC went on to establish the proper calculation of the relevant training compensation due to the Claimant. 11. Turning its attention to the calculation of training compensation, the Chamber referred to art. 5 par. 1 and par. 2 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations, which stipulate that as a general rule, to calculate the training compensation, it is necessary to take the costs that would have been incurred by the new club if it had trained the player itself. Furthermore, the Chamber referred to the exception contained in the first sentence of art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations which stipulates that to ensure that training compensation for very young players is not set at unreasonably high levels, the training costs for players for the seasons between their 12th and 15th birthdays (i.e. four seasons) shall be based on the training and education costs of category 4 clubs. Equally, the Chamber referred to the second sentence of art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations which states that the aforementioned exception shall not be applicable where the event giving rise to the right to training compensation occurs before the end of the season of the player’s 18th birthday. 12. In this context, the Chamber wished to refer to FIFA Circular no. 1190 dated 20 May 2009 by means of which the members of FIFA were, inter alia, informed about the amended art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4, which came into force on 1 October 2009. Said FIFA Circular indicated that art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 “now stipulates that where the event giving rise to the right to training compensation occurs before the end of the season of the player's 18th birthday, the training costs for players for the seasons between their 12th and 15th birthdays (i.e. four seasons) shall no longer be based on the training and education costs of category 4 clubs, but on the category of the new club.” 13. Against this background, in particular since the aforementioned amendment of the pertinent article of Annexe 4 of the Regulations only came into force on 1 October 2009, the Chamber found that it cannot apply said amendment to the years of training and education of the player prior to the coming into force of the amended art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4, i.e. prior to 1 October 2009. In other words, the Chamber concurred that the said provision could not be applied retro-actively and, consequently, decided that the second sentence of art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations does not apply to the season 2008/2009, as well as the season 2009/2010 until 1 October 2009, during which the player was registered with the Claimant. 14. Having established the above, the Chamber recalled that the player was born on 3 December 1996 and was registered with the Claimant as from 24 September 2008 until 30 June 2009 and as from 22 September 2009 until 30 June 2010. 15. Equally, the DRC recalled that, according to the information contained in the TMS, the player was registered with the Respondent on 10 June 2014 as a professional. 16. On account of the above and in accordance with art. 20 in combination with Annexe 4 of the Regulations, the DRC considered that the Claimant is, thus, entitled to receive training compensation for the period as from 24 September 2008 until 30 June 2009, i.e. for 9 months of the 2008/2009 season (season of the player’s 12th birthday), as well as for the period as from 22 September 2009 until 30 June 2010, i.e. for 9 months of the 2009/2010 season (season of the player’s 13 th birthday). 17. In view of all of the above, the DRC held that the Respondent is liable to pay the amount of EUR 33,750 to the Claimant as training compensation in relation to the registration of the player with the Respondent. Said amount is calculated as follows: i) EUR 7,500 for the 2008/2009 season and ii) EUR 26,250 for the 2009/2010 season. 18. In view of all of the above and taking into account the amount claimed by the Claimant, the DRC decided to partially accept the Claimant’s claim and held that the Respondent is liable to pay the amount of EUR 33,750 to the Claimant as training compensation in relation to registration of the player as a professional with the Respondent. 19. Moreover, taking into account the Claimant’s claim, the DRC decided that the Respondent has to pay interest of 5% p.a. over the amount payable as training compensation as from 11 July 2014 until the date of effective payment. 20. Lastly, the Chamber 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 DRC relating to disputes regarding training compensation, costs in the maximum amount of CHF 25’000 are levied. It is further stipulated that the costs are to be borne in consideration of the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings and that, in accordance with Annexe A of the Procedural Rules, the costs of the proceedings are to be levied on the basis of the amount in dispute. 21. In respect of the above, the Chamber held that the amount to be taken into consideration in the present proceedings is EUR 53,698.62 related to the claim of the Claimant. Consequently, the Chamber concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 10,000 (cf. table in Annexe A). 22. As a result, and taking into account the degree of success as well as that the Respondent did not reply to the claim, the Chamber determined the costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 8,000, of which CHF 3,000 shall be borne by the Claimant and CHF 5,000 by the Respondent. III. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber 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 EUR 33,750 plus 5% interest p.a. on said amount as of 11 July 2014 until the date of effective payment. 3. In the event that the aforementioned sum is not paid within the stated time limit, the present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee for 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 8,000 are to be paid, within 30 days of notification of the present decision, as follows: 5.1. The amount of CHF 3,000 has to be paid by the Claimant. 5.2. The amount of CHF 5,000 has to be paid by the Respondent. 5.3. The abovementioned amounts have 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 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 Dispute Resolution Chamber 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 www.tas-cas.org For the Dispute Resolution Chamber: Markus Kattner Acting Secretary General Enclosed: CAS directives