A Dutch group seeking compensation on behalf of soccer players who might have lost income due to transfer regulations has filed a class action lawsuit against the sport’s governing body FIFA and five other football associations.
The Justice for Players foundation said in a statement Monday that men and women across the world who have played for a club in the European Union or the United Kingdom since 2002 are eligible to join the legal procedure.
The legal move follows a landmark ruling from top EU court last year stating that some parts of FIFA’s transfer regulations did not comply with the bloc’s laws on competition and freedom of movement for labor.
The foundation says it is fighting for the right of players “whose earnings were compromised as a result of FIFA’s restrictive rules on termination of contracts and transfers.” In addition to FIFA, Justice For Players is also taking legal action against the national football associations of the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and Denmark.
“Preliminary estimates indicate that the number of affected footballers may comprise approximately 100,000 players,” it said.
By ruling in the Lassana Diarra case that some FIFA regulations on player transfers are contrary to EU legislation relating to competition and freedom of movement, the European Court of Justice has paved the way for deep changes in the sport’s economy.
Diarra, a former Real Madrid, Arsenal and Chelsea player, signed a four-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013. The deal was terminated a year later after he was unhappy with alleged pay cuts. FIFA and then the Court of Arbitration for Sport found the Russian club terminated the contract “with just cause” and ordered the player to pay 10.5 million euros ($11.2 million). Diarra argued his search for a new club was affected by FIFA rules, making his next employer jointly responsible for paying compensation to Lokomotiv.
Some analysts have compared the ruling to the 1995 decision on Belgian Jean-Marc Bosman. That ruling removed restrictions placed on foreign EU footballers within national leagues and allowed players in the bloc to move to another club for free when their contracts ended.
But for now, the decision on Diarra has not changed how the global soccer transfer market, worth more than $10 billion each season, functions.
Justice for Players said that economists at Compass Lexecon consulting firm estimate that FIFA regulations caused the affected players to earn about 8% less over their careers.
“All professional football players have lost a significant amount of earnings due to the unlawful FIFA regulations,” said the foundation chair, Lucia Melcherts. “The past and even current system unduly favours FIFA who has far too much unilateral power. In any other profession, people are allowed to change jobs voluntarily.”
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