Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 2 July 2015,
in the following composition:
Geoff Thompson (England), Chairman
Theodore Giannikos (Greece), member
Joaquim Evangelista (Portugal), member
on the claim presented by the player,
Player A, country B
as Claimant
against the club,
Club C, country D
as Respondent
regarding an employment-related dispute arisen between the parties
I.
Facts of the case
1.
On an unspecified date, the player from country B, Player A (hereinafter: the
Claimant) and the club from country D, Club C (hereinafter: the Respondent),
concluded an employment contract (hereinafter: the contract), valid as of 1
August 2012 until 30 July 2015.
2.
Pursuant to the contract, the Claimant was entitled to a total remuneration of
EUR 9,300,000.
3.
On 21 January 2014, the parties signed a termination agreement (hereinafter:
the termination agreement). According to art. 3.1 of the termination
agreement, the parties agreed that “[the Respondent] shall, as full, complete
and final settlement under the [contract], pay to the [Claimant] the total
amount of Euro 2,560,000 (two million and five hundred sixty thousand Euros)
net of COUNTRY D INCOME TAX (“SETTLEMENT AMOUNT”), as follows:
- Euro 2,000,000 shall be paid on or before 30 January 2014;
- Euro 560,000 shall be paid on or before 30 December 2014”.
4.
Furthermore, art. 8.2 of the termination agreement stipulates that “[a]ny
dispute arising from or related to this [termination agreement] will be
submitted to FIFA with an appeal possibility before the Court of Arbitration
for Sports (TAS-CAS)”.
5.
On 18 August 2014, the Claimant informed the Respondent that he had not
received the payment of the first instalment of EUR 2,000,000 as per the
termination agreement and requested the Respondent to provide with its
explanations in this regard within five days.
6.
On 25 August 2014 and 16 September 2014, the Claimant, making reference to
the absence of reply from the Respondent, requested the latter to pay him the
amount of EUR 2,000,000 within three days.
7.
On 1 October 2014, the Claimant granted to the Respondent a final deadline
of two days to comply with its obligation of payment.
8.
On 13 October 2014, the Claimant lodged a claim in front of FIFA against the
Respondent for breach of the termination agreement, requesting to be
awarded with the amount of EUR 2,560,000 plus 5% interest p.a. as of the
date of breach of the termination agreement until the date of effective
payment.
9.
In its reply submitted on 9 February 2015, the Respondent rejects the
Claimant’s claim in its entirety and stresses that, in any case, the Claimant is
not entitled to claim the second instalment of EUR 560,000 since the latter had
not fallen due yet when he lodged his claim, i.e. in October 2014.
Player A, country B / Club C, country D
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II.
Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter also referred to as
Chamber or DRC) 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 13 October 2014. Consequently, the 2014 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 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. b) of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer
of Players (edition 2015) the Dispute Resolution Chamber is competent to deal
with the matter at stake, which concerns an employment-related dispute with
an international dimension between a player from country B and an club from
country D.
3.
In continuation, the Chamber analysed which regulations 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 the Regulations on the Status and
Transfer of Players (edition 2015), and considering that the present claim was
lodged on 13 October 2014, the 2014 edition of said regulations (hereinafter:
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, entering into the substance of the matter, the members of the
Chamber started by acknowledging the facts of the case and the arguments of
the parties as well as the documents contained in the file. However, the
Chamber emphasised that in the following considerations it will refer only to
facts, arguments and documentary evidence which it considered pertinent for
the assessment of the matter at hand.
5.
In this respect and first of all, the DRC acknowledged that the Claimant and
the Respondent had concluded an employment contract valid as from 1 August
2012 until 30 July 2015.
6.
Equally, the Chamber took note that, on 21 January 2014, the parties had
concluded a termination agreement by means of which the parties agreed that
“[the Respondent] shall, as full, complete and final settlement under the
[contract], pay to the [Claimant] the total amount of Euro 2,560,000 (two
million and five hundred sixty thousand Euros) net of COUNTRY D INCOME
TAX (“SETTLEMENT AMOUNT”), as follows:
Player A, country B / Club C, country D
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-
Euro 2,000,000 shall be paid on or before 30 January 2014;
Euro 560,000 shall be paid on or before 30 December 2014”.
7.
In addition, the DRC observed that the Claimant is claiming the amount of EUR
2,560,000 from the Respondent, thereby asserting that the Respondent had
not complied with the above-mentioned termination agreement.
8.
On the other hand, the Dispute Resolution Chamber took note that, for its
part, the Respondent asserts that the Claimant is not entitled to claim the
second instalment of EUR 560,000 since the latter had not fallen due yet when
he lodged his claim.
9.
In this context, the members of the Chamber were eager to emphasise that the
Respondent replied to the Claimant’s claim on 8 February 2015, i.e. after the
second instalment had fallen due on 30 December 2014, and did not challenge
that fact that it did not pay any of the instalments due. Furthermore, the
Chamber noted that the Respondent, in its reply to the claim, did not put
forward any valid reasons to justify the lack of payment of the relevant
amounts, as claimed by the Claimant.
10.
In continuation, the Chamber held that since the Claimant had already
requested the total amount of EUR 2,560,000 in his claim, he correctly deemed
that there was no need to amend his claim after the second instalment fell
due.
11.
On account of all the above, and bearing in mind that it was undisputed that
the Respondent did not pay any amount due as per the termination
agreement, as well as the legal principles of pacta sunt servanda and non ultra
petita, the Dispute Resolution Chamber decided that the Respondent is liable
to pay the amount of EUR 2,560,000 to the Claimant.
12.
In addition, taking into consideration the Claimant’s claim, the Chamber
decided that the Respondent had to pay default interest at a rate of 5% as
follows:
-
5% p.a. as of 31 January 2015 on the amount of EUR 2,000,000;
5% p.a. as of 1 March 2013 on the amount of EUR 560,000.
III.
Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Player A, is 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 2,560,000 plus 5%
interest p.a. until the date of effective payment as follows:
Player A, country B / Club C, country D
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a. 5% p.a. as of 31 January 2014 on the amount of EUR 2,000,000;
b. 5% p.a. as of 31 December 2014 on the amount of EUR 560,000.
3.
In the event that the abovementioned amount plus interest is not paid within
the stated time limit, the present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to
the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for consideration and a formal decision.
4.
The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent immediately and directly of
the account number to which the remittance is to be made and to notify the
Dispute Resolution Chamber of every payment received.
Note relating to the motivated decision (legal remedy):
According to article 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
Acting Secretary General
Encl. CAS Directives
Player A, country B / Club C, country D
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