Training Compensation
Texto da decisão
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 7 February 2014,
in the following composition:
Thomas Grimm (Switzerland), Deputy Chairman
Philippe Diallo (France), member
Mohamed Mecherara (Algeria), member
John Bramhall (England), member
Santiago Nebot (Spain), member
on the claim presented by the club,
Club Z, from country S
as Claimant
against the club,
Club D, from country P
as Respondent
regarding training compensation in connection
with the player A
I.
Facts of the case
1.
According to the player passport issued by the Football Association of country
S the player, A (hereinafter: the player A), born on 29 June 1990, was
registered with the Club Z from country S (hereinafter: the Claimant), as from
8 August 2006 as a professional. The player passport did not indicate the deregistration date of the player with the Claimant.
2.
On 12 September 2008, the Football Association of country S issued the
International Transfer Certificate (ITC) to the Football Federation of country P,
indicating that the former club of the player was the country S club, Club X.
3.
The sporting season in country S ran as follows:
-
4.
2005/2006
2006/2007
as from 6 August 2005 until 6 May 2006
as from 4 August 2006 until 26 May 2007.
According to the player passport of the Football Federation of country P, the
player was registered with its affiliated clubs as follows:
-
Club Y
Club P
Club C
Club W,
12 September 2008 until 30 June 2009 as an amateur
1 September 2009 until 30 June 2010 as an amateur
27 August 2010 until 30 June 2011 as a professional
8 July 2011 until 30 June 2012 as a professional
5.
The Football Federation of country P further confirmed that Club Y
(hereinafter: the Respondent) belonged to the club category II at the time the
player was registered with the Respondent.
6.
On 21 October 2009, the Claimant lodged a claim in front of FIFA against the
Respondent, which it amended on 15 April 2011 and 18 September 2012,
claiming the payment of training compensation for the period as from 8
August 2006 until 12 September 2008 in the amount of EUR 125,753.42, plus
interest and legal costs.
7.
In its reply to the claim, the Respondent referred to art. 2 lit. iii of Annexe 4 of
the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players and indicated that the
player had re-acquired the amateur status upon being transferred to country P
and that, therefore, no training compensation is due.
8.
On 25 November 2013, the Claimant insisted that training compensation was
due referring to art. 2 of the aforementioned Regulations and providing the
Training compensation in connection with the player A (Club Z, from country S / Club D, from country
P)
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contracts concluded between the player and the Respondent on 18 August
2008 and 12 June 2009. In accordance with the contract dated 18 August 2008,
the player received a monthly “sports grant” of EUR 400.
9.
Although having been invited to do so, the Respondent did not provide FIFA
with its final position.
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 21 October 2009. Consequently, the 2008 edition of the Rules
Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute
Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: Procedural Rules), is applicable to the matter
at hand (cf. art. 21 of the 2008 and 2012 editions 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 2012), 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, the Chamber referred, on the one hand, to art. 26 par.
1 and 2 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (editions 2008,
2009, 2010 and 2012) and, on the other hand, to the fact that the present
claim was lodged on 21 October 2009 and that the player was registered for
the Respondent on 12 September 2008. In view of the aforementioned, the
Dispute Resolution Chamber concluded that the 2008 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 Chamber and the applicable regulations having been
established, and entering into the substance of the matter, the Chamber
started by acknowledging the above-mentioned facts as well as the
documentation contained in the file. However, the Chamber emphasised that
Training compensation in connection with the player A (Club Z, from country S / Club D, from country
P)
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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 Chamber recalled that the player, born on 29 June 1990, was,
according to the player passport provided by the Football Association of
country S, registered with the Claimant as from 8 August 2006 as a
professional.
6.
In continuation, the Chamber took note that the Claimant held that it was
entitled to receive training compensation from the Respondent in the amount
of EUR 125,753.42, plus interest and legal costs.
7.
Equally, the Chamber observed that the Respondent denied that any training
compensation was due to the Claimant, asserting that the player had been
registered with the amateur status upon being transferred to country P and
that, therefore, no training compensation is due.
8.
In this context, the Chamber, and hereby referring to the rules applicable to
training compensation, stated 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.
9.
Equally, the Chamber referred to art. 3 par. 2 sent. 2 of the Regulations, which
stipulates that if a player re-registers as a professional within 30 months of
being reinstated as an amateur, his new club shall pay training compensation
in accordance with art. 20 of the Regulations.
10.
Having established the above, the Chamber referred to the decision taken by
the Chamber in the employment-related dispute between the Claimant, the
player and the Respondent in which it had already established that the player
was to be considered an amateur player while being registered with the
Claimant. As a consequence, the Chamber held that the only remaining issue it
had to address was whether or not the player had been registered for the first
time as a professional with the Respondent, before the end of the season of
the his 23rd birthday, and thus triggering a right to training compensation for
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P)
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the Claimant, in accordance with art. 2 par. 1 lit. i) of Annexe 4 of the
Regulations.
11.
In this context, and whilst referring to the Respondent’s argument that the
player was an amateur while been registered with it, the Chamber referred to
art. 2 par. 2 of the Regulations which stipulates that “A professional is a player
which has a written contract with a club and is paid more for his footballing
activity than the expenses he effectively incurs. All other players are considered
to be amateurs”. The Chamber further stressed that a player’s remuneration as
set out in art. 2 par. 2 of the Regulations constitutes the decisive factor in the
determination of the status of the player and that the legal nature or the
designation of the agreement is of no relevance in this regard.
12.
After having carefully examined the contract concluded between the player
and the Respondent, the Chamber came to the unanimous conclusion that the
player had already signed a professional contract with the Respondent on 18
18 August 2008, since the player was earning EUR 400 per month as from the
aforementioned date. As a consequence, the Chamber concluded that the
player, as from 18 August 2008, was paid more for his footballing activity than
the expenses he incurred and that, therefore, he was to be considered a
professional.
13.
In this context, the DRC determined that the player was registered for the first
time as a professional with the Respondent before the end of the season of his
23rd birthday. As a result, the DRC decided that the Respondent is liable to pay
training compensation to the Claimant in accordance with art. 20 and art. 2
par. 1 lit. i. in conjunction with art. 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations.
14.
Turning its attention to the calculation of the training compensation payable
by the Respondent to the Claimant, the Chamber referred to art. 5 par. 1 and
par. 2 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations, which stipulates that as a general rule,
to calculate the training compensation due to a player’s former club, it is
necessary to take the costs that would have been incurred by the new club if it
had trained the player itself.
15.
In continuation, the Chamber took into account that the Respondent belonged
to the category II within UEFA, which corresponds to the indicative amount of
EUR 60,000 per year, and that the player, born on 29 June 1990, was registered
with the Claimant as from 8 August 2006. Equally, the Chamber took into
consideration that the player had left the Claimant in the end of August 2008.
Thus, the Chamber concluded that the player had been effectively trained and
educated by the Claimant for 2 years and 1 month, i.e. during the complete
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P)
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seasons of the player’s 17th and 18th birthday as well as during 1 month of the
season of the player’s 19th birthday. In view of the foregoing, the Chamber
decided that the Respondent has to pay the amount of EUR 125,000 to the
Claimant as training compensation.
16.
Moreover, taking into consideration the Claimant’s claim, the Chamber
established that the Respondent has to pay, in conformity with its
longstanding practice, interest at 5% p.a. over the amount payable as training
compensation as from 21 October 2009 until the date of effective payment.
17.
Moreover, the Dispute Resolution Chamber decided to reject the Claimant’s
claim pertaining to legal costs in accordance with art. 18 par. 4 of the
Procedural Rules and the Chamber’s respective longstanding jurisprudence in
this regard.
18.
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
the proceedings before the Dispute Resolution Chamber relating to disputes
regarding training compensation and the solidarity mechanism costs in the
maximum amount of CHF 25,000 are levied. The costs are to be borne in
consideration of the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings.
19.
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.
20.
In respect of the above, the DRC held that the amount to be taken into
consideration in the present proceedings is EUR 125,753.42 related to the claim
of the Claimant. Consequently, the Chamber concluded that the maximum
amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to CHF 15,000 (cf. table in
Annexe A).
21.
As a result, considering that the case at hand did not pose any particular
factual difficulties as well as that the Respondent had been the unsuccessful
party, the Chamber determined the costs of the current proceedings to the
amount of CHF 10,000, which shall be borne by the Respondent.
*****
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III.
Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Club Z, is partially accepted.
2.
The Respondent, Club D, has to pay to the Claimant, within 30 days as from
the date of notification of this decision, the amount of EUR 125,000 plus 5%
interest p.a. on said amount as from 21 October 2009 until the date of
effective payment.
3.
In the event that the aforementioned sum plus interest 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 10,000 are to be paid
by the Respondent within 30 days of notification of the present decision, as
follows:
5.1.
The amount of CHF 5,000 to FIFA to the following bank account with
reference to case no.:
UBS Zurich
Account number 366.677.01U (FIFA Players’ Status)
Clearing number 230
IBAN: CH27 0023 0230 3666 7701U
SWIFT: UBSWCHZH80A
5.2.
The amount of CHF 5,000 to the Claimant.
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6. The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent immediately and directly of
the account number to which the remittances under points 2. and 5.2. are 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: [email protected]
www.tas-cas.org
For the Dispute Resolution Chamber:
______________________
Markus Kattner
Deputy Secretary General
Enclosed: CAS directives
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