Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 18 December 2014,
in the following composition:
Thomas Grimm (Switzerland), Deputy Chairman
Damir Vrbanovic (Croatia), member
Philippe Piat (France), member
on the claim presented by the player,
Player M, from country S
as Claimant
against the club,
Club R, from country A
as Respondent
regarding an employment-related dispute arisen between the parties
I.
Facts of the case
1.
In January 2013, Player M, from country S (hereinafter: the Claimant), and Club R,
from country A (hereinafter: the Respondent), signed an employment contract
(hereinafter: the contract) valid for “1 year and 6 months (…) until (30.05.2014)”.
2.
Article 5 of the contract specifies, inter alia, that the Respondent is to provide the
Claimant with the following amounts:
USD 5,000 as monthly salary;
USD 10,000 as sign-on fee for the first year, due “after ITC come not late than 5
days”;
USD 5,000 as sign-on fee “for the last half”;
USD 600 per month for accommodation expenses.
3.
On 18 August 2014, the Claimant lodged a claim before FIFA against the
Respondent, requesting the payment of USD 15,600 corresponding to outstanding
amounts, plus 5% interest p.a. as of the due date of each payment, as well as
sporting sanctions to be imposed on the club.
4.
The Claimant holds that the sign-on fee for the last half of the season remained
unpaid by the Respondent. Besides, the Claimant alleges that the Respondent did
not pay his salary for April 2014 and May 2014. Finally, the Claimant states that the
Respondent did not cover the apartment rent for May 2014.
5.
Therefore, the Claimant deems that the Respondent owes him the amount of USD
15,600 as outstanding salaries, i.e. USD 5,000 as sign-on fee, plus USD 5,000 as salary
for April 2014, plus USD 5,000 as salary for May 2014, plus USD 600 as
accommodation expenses for May 2014.
6.
In its statement of defence, the Respondent rejects the Claimant’s claim and
considers having paid all amounts due to him. In this respect, the Respondent
provides several payment slips in original language in order to corroborate the said
payments.
7.
The Respondent also points to the Claimant’s alleged low performance which
apparently led to the relegation of the Respondent. In particular, the Respondent
refers to article 7 of the “Internal Disciplinary Rules and Collection of Fines”
(hereinafter: the Internal Rules) – apparently set up by the Respondent on 17
February 2014 and allegedly brought up to all the Claimant’s attention – according
Player M, from country S / Club R, from country A
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to which “if the club leaves the Premier League for 1 Division because of weak
performance of players, one-month salary is not paid”.
8.
In his replica, the Claimant asserts that he has neither received nor signed the
aforementioned Internal Rules. The Claimant further states that the contract does
not refer to these Internal Rules being applicable. In any event, the Claimant deems
that article 7 of the Internal Rules is abusive.
9.
Regarding the payment slips provided by the Respondent, the Claimant points to
the fact that the relevant documentation does not contain the date of execution of
each alleged payment. Moreover, the Claimant argues that a translated version of
the documentation into one of the four FIFA languages was not provided by the
Respondent. Finally, the Claimant sustains that the documentation is partly illegible.
10.
Therefore, the Claimant reiterates his claim for outstanding remuneration
amounting to USD 15,600.
11.
In its duplica, the Respondent solely provided the FIFA administration again with
several untranslated payment slips without adding any further comments.
II.
Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Chamber or the 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 18 August 2014.
Consequently, the 2014 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 stake (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 2014), 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 country S player and an country A club.
3.
Furthermore, 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
2014), and considering that the present claim was lodged in front of FIFA on 18
Player M, from country S / Club R, from country A
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August 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 DRC and the applicable regulations having been established,
the Chamber entered the substance of the present matter. In doing so, it started by
acknowledging the abovementioned facts of the matter as well as the
documentation contained in the file. However, the Chamber 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 and in a first instance, the DRC acknowledged that, between 20 and
25 January 2013, the Claimant and the Respondent concluded an employment
contract which was set to run until 30 May 2014, according to which the Claimant
was to receive a sign-on fee amounting to USD 15,000 payable in two instalments,
i.e. USD 10,000 due 5 days after receiving the ITC and USD 5,000 for the second half
of the season, as well as a monthly salary in the amount of USD 5,000 and the
monthly amount of USD 600 as accommodation expenses.
6.
The DRC further observed that the Claimant lodged a claim in front of FIFA against
the Respondent seeking payment of the amount of USD 15,600, indicating that the
Respondent had not paid the Claimant’s salary for April and May 2014, the
accommodation expenses for May 2014 as well as part of the sign-on fee due for
the second half of the season. Therefore, the Claimant deems that the amount of
USD 15,600 remains outstanding.
7.
Subsequently, the Chamber noted that the Respondent, in its defence, provided
several payment slips in order to substantiate the payment of all the amounts due
to the Claimant.
8.
In relation to the documentation provided by the Respondent, the members of the
Chamber recalled the basic principle of the burden of proof, as stipulated in art. 12
par. 3 of the Procedural Rules, according to which a party claiming a right on the
basis of an alleged fact shall carry the respective burden of proof. Similarly, the DRC
referred to art. 9 par. 1 lit. e) of the Procedural Rules which stipulates that all
documents of relevance to the dispute shall be submitted in the original version as
well as translated into one of the official FIFA languages.
9.
In this context, the DRC noted that the Respondent did not provide a translated
version of the payment slips it enclosed to its submission in country A language
only. In view of the foregoing and taking into consideration art. 9 of the Procedural
Rules, the DRC decided that it could not take into account the relevant documents
which were not translated into an official FIFA language.
Player M, from country S / Club R, from country A
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10.
Consequently, the DRC considered that the Respondent had not sufficiently
substantiated its defence, as it did not present any conclusive documentary evidence
which could corroborate that the claimed amounts were effectively paid to the
Claimant.
11.
In view of all the above, the Chamber decided that, in accordance with the general
legal principle of pacta sunt servanda, the Respondent must fulfil its contractual
obligations towards the Claimant and is to be held liable to pay the Claimant the
amount of USD 15,600.
12.
In continuation and with regard to the Claimant's request for interest, the DRC
decided that the Claimant is entitled to receive interest at the rate of 5% p.a. on the
amount of USD 15,600 until the date of effective payment as follows:
a.
b.
c.
5% p.a. as of 2 January 2014 on the amount of USD 5,000;
5% p.a. as of 1 May 2014 on the amount of USD 5,000;
5% p.a. as of 1 June 2014 on the amount of 5,600.
13.
The DRC concluded its deliberations in the present matter by rejecting any further
claim of the Claimant.
III.
Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant is partially accepted.
2.
The Respondent has to pay to the Claimant, within 30 days as from the date of
notification of this decision the amount of USD 15,600 plus 5% p.a. interest until
the date of effective payment as follows:
a. 5% p.a. as of 2 January 2014 on the amount of USD 5,000;
b. 5% p.a. as of 1 May 2014 on the amount of USD 5,000;
c. 5% p.a. as of 1 June 2014 on the amount of USD 5,600.
3.
In the event that the aforementioned amount 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.
Player M, from country S / Club R, from country A
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5.
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 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
Encl. CAS directives
Player M, from country S / Club R, from country A
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