F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber / Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie – solidarity contribution/ contributo di solidarietà – (2020-2021) – fifa.com – atto non ufficiale – Decision 23 February 2021

Decision of the

Single Judge of the sub-committee of

The Dispute Resolution Chamber

passed on 23 February 2021

regarding training compensation for the player Souleymane Aw

BY:

Daan de Jong (Netherlands), Single Judge of the sub-committee of the Dispute Resolution Chamber

CLAIMANT:

AS Beziers, France

RESPONDENT:

Gil Vicente FC, Portugal

I. FACTS OF THE CASE

Player: Souleymane AW

Date of birth: 5 April 1999

Player passport: issued by the Fédération Française de Football (“FFF”) on an unknown date:

Season Birthday Club(s) Registration dates Status 19/20 21st AS Beziers 22/08/2019 – 30/06/2020 Professional

20/21

22nd

Gil Vicente FC (POR)

10/08/2020 – onwards

Professional

Sporting season: 1 July to 30 June (France)

Date of transfer: 10 September 2020, from AS Beziers (France) to Gil Vicente FC (Portugal) as professional. According to the information included in the Transfer Matching System (“TMS”), the player’s contract with the Claimant was due to expire on 30 June 2020.

Claimant club: AS Beziers (France)

UEFA, category IV (EUR 10,000 per year)

Respondent club: FC Gil Vicente (Portugal)

UEFA, category II (EUR 60,000 per year)

Claim and Response:

1. On 2 December 2020, the Claimant requested EUR 30,013.70 as training compensation for the transfer of the player as a professional to the Respondent, plus 5% interest p.a. “as of the due date until the date of effective payment”.

2. In its calculation, the Claimant took into consideration the the average of its and the Respondent’s categories, i.e. EUR 35,000, which it multiplied pro rata by the 313 days the player was registered with the Claimant.

3. In its submissions, the Claimant confirmed that it did not offer the player a contract in line with the provisions set out in art. 6 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP).

4. Nevertheless, the Claimant argued that because it had been relegated to the French fourth division at the end of the 2019-2020 season, it was not in a position to offer an employment contract to the player.

5. In this respect, the Claimant provided a statement of the French Professional Football League (“LFP”) dated 9 November 2020 which, inter alia, confirmed that the Claimant lost its professional status as from 30 June 2020 and could therefore not sign any contracts under the French “Charte du Football Professionnel” as from said date (free translation: “Professional Football Charter”).

6. As such, the Claimant deemed being excused from having to offer the player a professional contract in accordance with art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP, said formality being “contrary to the spirit of the RSTP and overly formalistic” given the above.

7. On 8 December 2020, the FIFA administration submitted a proposal to the parties, informing them that it was of the opinion that the Respondent should pay the amount of EUR 30,013.70 to the Claimant. The proposal was accepted by the Claimant.

8. On 5 January 2021, the Respondent rejected the claim of the Claimant in its entirety.

9. On 13 January 2021, the Respondent requested a deadline extension to provide its position to the claim. However, the latter failed to provide a response within the given deadline.

II. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS

Applicable law: Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP): August 2020 edition.

Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (Procedural Rules): 2021 edition.

Jurisdiction: Yes, uncontested

Admissible: Yes, uncontested

Decision:

1. The claim is based on the subsequent transfer of the player as a professional between clubs of two different associations.

2. The Claimant is a club affiliated to the FFF, which is located in France. The Respondent is a club affiliated to the Federação Portuguesa de Futebol (“FPF”), which is located in Portugal. Both countries are members of the European Union (EU). Hence art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP is applicable as lex specialis to the matter hand and the registration of the player with the Respondent shall be considered a subsequent transfer of a professional player between two clubs based within the territory of the EU.

3. Art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP establishes that in case of a subsequent registration of a professional player, the former club, in order to retain its entitlement to training compensation, shall evidence that it had made a contract offer to the player at least 60 days before the end of the expiring contract. Such offer shall be at least of an equivalent value to the current contract.

4. In very exceptional cases, the DRC has decided that a club that has not offered a contract to the player in the sense of art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP may retain its entitlement to training compensation by having shown a bona fide interest in keeping his services.

5. It remained undisputed that the Claimant did not offer a contract to the player.

6. The Claimant alleged not having been in the position to offer such contract in view of its relegation to the French fourth division at the end of the 2019-2020 season and the loss of its professional status.

7. In accordance with art. 12 par. 3 of the Procedural Rules, the Claimant carries the burden of proof of its allegations.

8. The LFP confirmed the Claimant’s loss of professional status, as from 30 June 2020 onwards and confirmed that, as a consequence, the latter was no longer in a position to sign contracts with players, in line with a document called the “Charte du Football Professionnel”.

9. In accordance with art. 6 par. 4 of Annexe 3 of the RSTP, FIFA may use any documentation or evidence generated by or contained in TMS within the scope of proceedings pertaining to the application of the RSTP.

10. In order to comply with the requirements of art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP, the Claimant should have offered the player a contract 60 days before 30 June 2020. Because at that point in time the Claimant had not yet lost its professional status, it has to be assumed that it was in the position to offer a contract with at least the same terms as to the previous one.

11. In addition according to the information available in TMS, the Claimant signed two professional players during the January 2020 transfer window and one “Joueur Fédéral” on 11 June 2020, the latter having a two years contract according to which he was entitled to a monthly salary of approx. EUR 2,700 gross for the 2020/2021 season. This indicates that in January 2020 and June 2020 it was possible for the Claimant to sign professional players.

12. Taking into account all of the aforementioned, it has to be concluded that the Claimant was in a position to offer the player a contract in line with the provisions of the RSTP, i.e. art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP.

13. The Claimant did not allege having shown a bona fide interest in retaining the player’s services.

14. Consequently, the requirements of art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP are not met and the claim of the Claimant has to be rejected.

15. No procedural costs are levied (cf. arts. 17 par. 1 and 18 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules).

III. DECISION

1. The claim of the Claimant, AS Beziers, is rejected.

2. No procedural costs are payable (cf. arts. 17 par. 1 and 18 par. 1 of the Rules Governing the Procedure of the Players’ Status Committee and Dispute Resolution Chamber).

For the Single Judge of the sub-committee of the Dispute Resolution Chamber:

Emilio García Silvero

Chief Legal & Compliance Officer

NOTE RELATED TO THE APPEAL PROCEDURE:

Pursuant to article 58 paragraph 1 of the FIFA Statutes, this decision may be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days of notification.

NOTE RELATED TO PUBLICATION:

FIFA may publish this decision. For reasons of confidentiality, 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 Procedural Rules).

CONTACT INFORMATION:

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