F.I.F.A. – Dispute Resolution Chamber / Camera di Risoluzione delle Controversie – solidarity contribution / contributo di solidarietà – (2017-2018) – fifa.com – atto non ufficiale – Decision 7 June 2018

Decision of the

Dispute Resolution Chamber

passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 7 June 2018,

in the following composition:

Geoff Thompson (England), Chairman

Roy Vermeer (the Netherlands), member

Jon Newman (USA), member

Wouter Lambrecht (Belgium), member

Pavel Pivovarov (Russia), member

on the claim presented by the club,

Club A, Country B

as Claimant

against the club,

Club C, Country D

as Respondent

regarding solidarity contribution in connection with the transfer

of the player, Player E

I. Facts of the case

1. According to the player passport issued by the Football Federation of Country B, the player of Country B, Player E (hereinafter: the player), born on 10 July 1989, was registered with the club of Country B, Club A (hereinafter: the Claimant) as from 17 March 2006 until 30 March 2007.

2. The football season in Country B for the period during which the player was registered with the Claimant ran as from January until December.

3. According to the information contained in the Transfer Matching System (TMS), on 15 January 2015, the club of Country F, Club G and the club of Country D, Club C (hereinafter: the Respondent) agreed upon a transfer compensation consisting in a “lump sum compensation fee (including the amount owed as compensation for training and solidarity mechanism) of EUR 11.100.000 […]”. Furthermore, the player was registered with the Respondent on 4 February 2015.

4. On 17 June 2015, and completed on 17 August 2017, the Claimant lodged a claim against the Respondent in front of FIFA claiming its proportion of the solidarity contribution in connection with the transfer of the player from Club G to the Respondent. In this respect, the Claimant claimed solidarity contribution for the period between 17 March 2006 and 30 March 2007, which, according to it, corresponds to 0.5411% of the amount paid by the Respondent for the transfer of the player.

5. In particular, the Claimant requested to be awarded EUR 64,931.50, plus 5% interest “starting from 30 days […] of the date which the PLAYER was transferred to [the Respondent]”.

6. Upon being informed of the financial details of the transfer agreement, the Claimant amended its claim, requesting to be awarded EUR 60,743.83, plus “the respective amounts of 5% p.a. as interest”.

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 17 June 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 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 in combination with art. 22 lit. (d) of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2018), the DRC is competent to decide on the present matter, which concerns a dispute relating to the solidarity mechanism between clubs belonging to different associations and which is not handled through the Transfer Matching System (TMS).

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 said Regulations (edition 2018), and considering that the player was registered with the Respondent on 4 February 2015, the 2014 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. In this respect, the DRC took note that the Claimant claimed that it is entitled to receive solidarity contribution from the Respondent on the basis of the transfer of the player from Club G to the Respondent for a transfer compensation of EUR 11,100,000. In particular, the Claimant requested to be awarded 0.5411% of the transfer compensation, which it calculated in the amount of EUR 60,743.83, taking into account the period of time during which the player was registered with and trained by the Claimant.

6. Furthermore, the Chamber took note that the Respondent, for its part, failed to present its response to the claim of the Claimant, despite having been invited to do so. In this way, the Chamber deemed, the Respondent renounced its right to defence and accepted the allegations of the Claimant.

7. Moreover, and as a consequence of the aforementioned consideration, the Chamber 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.

8. Having established the above, the DRC referred to art. 21 of the Regulations in combination with art. 1 of Annexe 5 of the Regulations which stipulate that, if a professional moves during the course of a contract, 5% of any compensation, not including training compensation paid to his former club, shall be deducted from the total amount of this compensation and be distributed by the new club as a solidarity contribution to the club(s) involved in the training and education of the player in proportion of the number of years the player has been registered with the relevant club(s) between the seasons of his 12th and 23rd birthday.

9. In this respect, the DRC recalled that according to the player passport issued by the Football Federation of Country B, the player, born on 10 July 1989, was registered with the Claimant as from 17 March 2006 until 30 March 2007.

10. On account of the above and in accordance with art. 1 of Annexe 5 of the Regulations, the DRC considered that the Claimant is, thus, entitled to receive solidarity contribution for the period as from 17 March 2006 until 30 March 2007, i.e. for 9 months of the season of the player’s 17th birthday and for 3 months of the season of the player’s 18th birthday. In terms of the percentage of the 5% solidarity contribution, the Chamber calculated that, on a pro rata basis, this corresponds to 10% of 5% as opposed to the percentage claimed by the Claimant.

11. In view of all the above, the DRC decided to partially accept the claim of the Claimant and that the Respondent must pay the amount of EUR 55,500 to the Claimant as solidarity contribution in relation to the transfer of the player from Club G to the Respondent.

12. Furthermore, taking into consideration the Claimant’s petition as well as art. 2 par. 1 of Annexe 5 of the Regulations, the Chamber decided that the Respondent has to pay interest of 5% p.a. on the amount of EUR 55,500 as of the 31st day of registration of the player with the Respondent, i.e. 7 March 2015, until the date of effective payment.

13. Lastly, the DRC 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 and the solidarity mechanism, 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, 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.

14. In respect of the above, taking into consideration the percentage and amount claimed by the Claimant, the DRC concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 10,000 (cf. table in Annexe A of the Procedural Rules).

15. As a result, considering the degree of success, the DRC determined the final costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 10,000, which shall be borne as follows: the amount of CHF 2,000 has to be borne by the Claimant and the amount of CHF 8,000 has to be borne 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 55,500 plus 5% interest p.a. as from 7 March 2015 until the date of effective payment.

3. In the event that the aforementioned sum plus interest is not paid by the Respondent 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 10,000 are to be paid within 30 days as from the date of notification of the present decision as follows to FIFA to the following bank account with reference to case nr. XXX:

UBS Zurich

Account number 366.677.01U (FIFA Players’ Status)

Clearing number 230

IBAN: CH27 0023 0230 3666 7701U

SWIFT: UBSWCHZH80A

5.1. The amount of CHF 2,000 has to be paid by the Claimant. Given that the Claimant has already paid the amount of CHF 2,000 as advance of costs at the start of the present proceedings, the Claimant does not have to pay an additional amount as costs of the proceedings.

5.2. The amount of CHF 8,000 has to be paid by the Respondent.

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.

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Note relating to the motivated decision (legal remedy):

According to art. 58 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 (CAS)

Avenue de Beaumont 2

CH-1012 Lausanne

Switzerland

Tel: +41 21 613 50 00

Fax: +41 21 613 50 01

e-mail: info@tas-cas.org

For the Dispute Resolution Chamber:

Omar Ongaro

Football Regulatory Director

Encl.: CAS directives