F.I.F.A. – Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2015-2016) – controversie tra società – ———- F.I.F.A. – Players’ Status Committee (2015-2016) – 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 13 October 2015, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club, A, country U represented by Mr xxxxx as “Claimant” against the club, B, country B as “Respondent” regarding a contractual dispute between the parties relating to the player W. Player W (Club A, country U / Club B, country B) I.

F.I.F.A. - Commissione per lo Status dei Calciatori (2015-2016) – controversie tra società – ---------- F.I.F.A. - Players’ Status Committee (2015-2016) – 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 13 October 2015, by Geoff Thompson (England) Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee, on the claim presented by the club, A, country U represented by Mr xxxxx as “Claimant” against the club, B, country B as “Respondent” regarding a contractual dispute between the parties relating to the player W. Player W (Club A, country U / Club B, country B) I. Facts of the case 1. On 4 January 2010, the club from country U, A (hereinafter: the Claimant) and the club from country B, B (hereinafter: the Respondent) signed a transfer agreement (hereinafter: the transfer agreement) for the transfer of the economic and federative rights of the player W (hereinafter: the player) from the Claimant to the Respondent. 2. Additionally, on 2 September 2011, the Claimant, the Respondent and the player, signed an agreement (hereinafter: the exploitation agreement) for the temporary transfer of the exploitation of the image, voice and name rights of the player from the Claimant to the Respondent valid until 30 August 2014. 3. Furthermore, on 11 January 2013, the Claimant and the Respondent signed a “Termination of the Private Agreement for the temporary transfer of the exploitation of the image, voice and name rights of the professional athlete” (hereinafter: the termination), by means of which the parties put an end to the exploitation agreement signed between the parties concerned on 2 September 2011. 4. According to clause 2 of the termination, the Claimant was entitled to receive from the Respondent the amount of (xxx) 2,280,000 payable in twelve monthly instalments of xxx 190,000, the first one on 25 February 2013 and the rest of the instalments on the 25th day of the followings months. Additionally, according to clause 3.1 of the termination, in case of non-payment of three instalments, the remaining instalments will fall due immediately, after notification sent to the Respondent in written, as well as with a fine of 20% calculated on the rest of the amounts due. 5. On 23 February 2015, the Claimant lodged a claim in front of FIFA against the Respondent requesting from the latter the payment of the amount of xxx 2,736,000, as well as 5% interest p.a. from the date of the claim until the effective payment, distributed as follows: a. xxx 2,280,000 corresponding to the 12 instalments agreed upon in the termination; b. xxx 456,000 corresponding to a fine of 20% as established in clause 3.1 of the termination. 6. In this regard, according to the Claimant, the Respondent had failed to pay all the amounts agreed upon in the termination and, therefore, the Claimant had put the Respondent in default by means of the correspondence dated 6 February 2015. 7. On 22 June 2015, FIFA administration sent a letter to the Claimant informing the latter that the FIFA Players? Status Committee does not appear to be competent for claims which are not based on a transfer of a player between clubs and are outside the scope of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. Player W (Club A, country U / Club B, country B) 3 8. However, on 27 July 2015, the Claimant insisted on its claim to be heard by FIFA, arguing that the exploitation agreement was directly linked to the transfer agreement concluded between the Claimant and the Respondent as well as to the employment contract signed between the player and the Respondent. 9. In spite of having been invited by FIFA to do so, the Respondent did not provide its position in the present matter. 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 at hand. In this respect, he took note that the present matter was submitted to FIFA on 23 February 2015. Consequently, the Single Judge concluded that the 2014 edition of the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution (hereinafter: “the Procedural Rules”) is applicable to the matter in hand (cf. art. 21 of the Procedural Rules). 2. 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 recalled that the claim was submitted to FIFA on 23 February 2015 and concluded that the 2014 edition of the 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. In continuation, the Single Judge referred to art. 3 par. 1 and 2 of the Procedural Rules and confirmed that in accordance with art. 23 par. 1 and 3 in combination with art. 22 lit. f) of the Regulations, he is, in principle, competent to deal with the matter at stake. 4. However, after a thorough analysis of the documentation submitted by the Claimant, the Single Judge took note that the agreements at the basis of the claim, i.e. the exploitation agreement concluded between the Claimant, the Respondent and the player on 2 September 2011 as well as the termination concluded between the Claimant and the Respondent on 11 January 2013, are both agreements not related to transfer of the player between clubs belonging to different associations but to the purchase of economic rights of the player, without having a connection with an actual transfer of the player. 5. At this point, the Single Judge referred to art. 1 par. 1 of the Regulations which stipulates that “These regulations lay down global and binding rules concerning the status of players, their eligibility to participate in organised football, and their transfer to between clubs belonging to different association”. Player W (Club A, country U / Club B, country B) 4 6. On account of the aforementioned provision in conjunction with art. 22 lit. f of the Regulations, the standard practice of FIFA as well as the fact that the agreements at the basis of the dispute between the Claimant and the Respondent is not related to a transfer of the player, the Single Judge concluded that he cannot intervene in the present matter due to the lack of jurisdiction over the matter. 7. Consequently, the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee concluded that the present claim is inadmissible. 8. 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). 9. In respect of the above, and taking into account that the Claimant’s claim rejected, the Single Judge concluded that the Claimant has to bear a part of the costs of the current proceedings before FIFA. 10. 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 xxx 2,736,000. Consequently, the Single Judge concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 25,000. 11. In conclusion, and considering the particularities of the present matter, the Single Judge determined the costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 25,000. Furthermore, and in line with his aforementioned considerations and taking into account the degree of success, the Single Judge decided that the amount of CHF 25,000 has to be paid by the Claimant. III. Decision of the Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee 1. The claim of the Claimant, A, is inadmissible. 2. The final costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 25,000 are to be paid by the Claimant, A, to FIFA. Given that the latter has already paid the amount of CHF 5,000 as advance of costs at the start of the present proceedings, the Claimant, A, has to pay the remaining amount of CHF 20,000 to FIFA to the following bank account with reference to case nr: Player W (Club A, country U / Club B, country B) 5 UBS Zurich Account number 366.677.01U (FIFA Players’ Status) Clearing number 230 IBAN: CH27 0023 0230 3666 7701U SWIFT: UBSWCHZH80A. ***** 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 Single Judge of the Players’ Status Committee Markus Kattner Acting Secretary General (Encl. CAS Directives)