Training Compensation
Texto da decisão
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 1 February 2012,
in the following composition:
Geoff Thompson (England), Chairman (did not take part in the deliberations)
Rinaldo Martorelli (Brazil), member
David Mayebi (Cameroon), member
Philippe Diallo (France), member
Essah M. Saleh Al Housani (United Arab Emirates), member
on the claim presented by the club,
N,
as Claimant
against the club,
U,
as Respondent
regarding training compensation in connection with the player J
I.
Facts of the case
1.
According to the player passport issued by The Football Association of X (FAX)
the player, J (hereinafter: player), born on 21 January 1994, was registered with
the club, N (hereinafter: Claimant), as from 3 September 2005 until 6 May 2006
and as from 2 September 2006 until 18 June 2007 as an amateur. The player
passport also indicated that the player was registered with the club, C FC, as
from 1 August 2007 until 30 June 2010, equally as an amateur.
2.
The football seasons in country X during the period of time the player was
registered with the Claimant started and ended as follows:
-
2005/2006 season:
2006/2007 season:
as from 3 September 2005 until 6 May 2006
as from 2 September 2006 until 5 May 2007
3.
According to the aforementioned player passport, the Claimant belonged to the
category IV during the period of time the player was registered with the
Claimant.
4.
According to an official confirmation of The Football Association Y (The FAY )
the player was registered with its affiliated club, U (hereinafter: Respondent),
on 19 August 2010 as a professional.
5.
According to the information contained in the Transfer Matching System (TMS),
the Respondent belonged to the category I at the time the player was
registered with the Respondent.
6.
On 19 August 2011, the Claimant lodged a claim in front of FIFA requesting the
payment of training compensation from the Respondent on the basis that the
Respondent had signed the player on a scholarship basis. In particular, the
Claimant is claiming the amount of EUR 79,166.66 from the Respondent.
7.
After having been invited by FIFA to present its comments pertaining to art. 6
par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, the
Claimant stated that it is an amateur club and therefore not in a position to
offer contracts to its players. Additionally, the Claimant pointed out that the
player was 11 years old when he joined the Claimant and 13 years old when he
left the Claimant.
8.
The Football Association X confirmed that the information provided by the
Claimant was correct.
2/9
9.
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
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 19 August 2011. 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 par. 2 and par. 3 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 and art.
22 lit. d) of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2010)
the 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 regulations should be applicable as
to the substance of the matter. In this respect, the Chamber confirmed that in
accordance with art. 26 par. 1 and par. 2 of the Regulations on the Status and
Transfer of Players (editions 2009 and 2010), and considering that the player
was registered with the Respondent as a professional on 19 August 2010 as well
as that the present claim was lodged on 19 August 2011, the 2009 edition of
said regulations (hereinafter: Regulations) is applicable to the present matter as
to the substance.
4.
The competence of the Chamber and the applicable regulations having been
established, the Chamber entered into the substance of the matter. The
Chamber started by acknowledging the above-mentioned facts of the case as
well as the documentation on file.
5.
First of all, the Chamber recalled that the player was born on 21 January 1994
and was registered with the Claimant as from 3 September 2005 until 6 May
2006 and as from 2 September 2006 until 18 June 2007 as an amateur.
3/9
6.
Furthermore, the Chamber took note that the Claimant asserted that it was
entitled to receive training compensation from the Respondent in the amount
of EUR 79,166.66, since the player had signed his first professional contract with
the Respondent.
7.
Equally, the Chamber took note that the Respondent failed to present its
response to the claim of the Claimant, despite having been invited to do so. In
this way, so the Chamber, the Respondent renounced its right to defence.
8.
Furthermore, 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.
9.
In continuation, and hereby referring to the rules applicable to training
compensation, the Chamber stated that, as established in art. 1 par. 1 of Annexe
4 in combination with art. 2 par. 1 lit. i. 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.
10.
Moreover, the Chamber referred, in particular, to art. 6 of Annexe 4 of the
Regulations, which contains special provisions regarding players moving from
one association to another association inside the territory of the European
Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA).
11.
In view of the above, the Chamber stated that it first had to verify whether art.
6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations applies in the present case as lex
specialis, and, in the affirmative, to determine if the Claimant had complied
with the said provision in order to be entitled to receive training compensation
from the Respondent.
12.
As far as the applicability of art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations is
concerned, the Chamber stated that, as the player moved from country X to
country E i.e. moved from one association to another association inside the
territory of the EU, said article is applicable. Therefore, the Chamber concluded
that the aforementioned provision applies in the case at hand as lex specialis.
13.
In this regard, the Chamber clarified, however, that according to the wellestablished jurisprudence of the DRC, the first part of art. 6 par. 3 sent. 1 of
Annexe 4 of the Regulations, i.e. the obligation of the former club to offer a
contract to the player, does not apply to purely amateur clubs, which are per se
not in a position to offer a contract to their players. For the sake of good order,
4/9
the Chamber wished to emphasise that, contrary to purely amateur clubs, the
aforementioned principle does apply to clubs which have both amateur and
professional players.
14.
In this respect, the Chamber recalled that The Football Association X had
confirmed that the Claimant was a purely amateur club and concluded that the
Claimant was, thus, not in the position to offer professional contracts to its
players. On a side note, the DRC highlighted that the player was only 13 years of
age when he moved as an amateur from the Claimant to C FC.
15.
Consequently, taking into account all the above-mentioned elements, the
Chamber concluded that the Claimant did not have to meet the prerequisite of
offering a contract to the player, in order to be entitled to training
compensation.
16.
Following the above, the Chamber reiterated that The Football Federation Y
had confirmed that the player was registered as a professional with the
Respondent on 19 August 2010. Equally, the Chamber stressed that, taking into
account the player’s career history provided by The Football Association X, the
player had at all times been registered as an amateur prior to his registration as
a professional with the Respondent.
17.
On account of all the above considerations, the Chamber 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. of Annexe 4 of the Regulations.
18.
Turning its attention to the calculation of training compensation, the Chamber
referred to the FIFA circular no. 1185 dated 22 April 2009 which provides details
for the calculation of training compensation as well as to art. 5 par. 1 and par. 2
of Annexe 4 of the Regulations, which stipulate 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. Furthermore, the Chamber referred to the exception
contained in the first sentence of art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations
which stipulates that to ensure that training compensation for very young
players is not set at unreasonably high levels, the training costs for players for
the seasons between their 12th and 15th birthdays (i.e. four seasons) shall be
based on the training and education costs of category 4 clubs. Equally, the
Chamber referred to the second sentence of art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 of the
Regulations which states that the aforementioned exception shall not be
applicable where the event giving rise to the right to training compensation
occurs before the end of the season of the player’s 18th birthday.
5/9
19.
In this context, the Chamber wished to refer to FIFA Circular no. 1190 dated 20
May 2009 by means of which the members of FIFA were, inter alia, informed
about the amended art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4, which came into force on 1
October 2009. Said FIFA Circular indicated that art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 “now
stipulates that where the event giving rise to the right to training compensation
occurs before the end of the season of the player's 18th birthday, the training
costs for players for the seasons between their 12th and 15th birthdays (i.e. four
seasons) shall no longer be based on the training and education costs of
category 4 clubs, but on the category of the new club.”
20.
Against this background, in particular since the aforementioned amendment of
the pertinent article of Annexe 4 of the Regulations only came into force on 1
October 2009, the Chamber found that it cannot apply said amendment to the
years of training and education of the player prior to the coming into force of
the amended art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4, i.e. prior to 1 October 2009. In other
words, the Chamber concurred that the said provision could not be applied
retro-actively and, consequently, decided that the second sentence of art. 5 par.
3 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations does not apply to the 2005/2006 and
2006/2007 seasons during which the player was registered with the Claimant.
21.
On account of the above, and since the player was registered with the Claimant
during the seasons of his 12th and 13th birthday, the Chamber decided that the
training costs shall be based on the training and education costs of category 4
clubs, i.e. on the basis of EUR 10,000 per year.
22.
In continuation, the Chamber took into account that the player was registered
with the Claimant as from 3 September 2005 until 6 May 2006 and as from 2
September 2006 until 18 June 2007 and that, according to The Football
Association X, the corresponding seasons in country X ran as from 3 September
2005 until 6 May 2006 and as from 2 September 2006 until 5 May 2007.
23.
Consequently, taking into account the above-mentioned considerations, the
Chamber decided that the Respondent is liable to pay training compensation to
the Claimant in the amount of EUR 15,000.
24.
The Chamber concluded its deliberations as to the substance of the case by
rejecting any further claim of the Claimant.
25.
Furthermore, 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
6/9
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.
26.
In this respect, the Chamber reiterated that the claim of the Claimant is partially
accepted. Therefore, and in view of the particularities of the present matter, the
Respondent has to bear the costs of the current proceedings in front of FIFA.
27.
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.
28.
The amount in dispute to be taken into consideration in the present
proceedings amounts to EUR 79,166.66 related to the claim of the Claimant.
Therefore, the Chamber concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the
proceedings corresponds to CHF 10,000 (cf. table in Annexe A of the Procedural
Rules).
29.
Considering that the case at hand allowed to be dealt with following a
reasonable procedure, that the present case did not show particular factual
difficulty but that it did involve a certain specific legal complexity, the Chamber
determined the final amount of costs of the current proceedings to the amount
of CHF 7,500.
30.
In this respect, the Chamber took into account that the Claimant had paid the
advance of costs in the amount of CHF 3,000 in accordance with art. 17 of the
Procedural Rules.
31.
In view of all of the above, the Chamber concluded that the amount of CHF
7,500 has to be paid by the Respondent to cover the costs of the present
proceedings. Thereof the amount of CHF 4,500 has to be paid by the
Respondent to FIFA and the amount of CHF 3,000 to the Claimant.
III.
Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, N, is partially accepted.
7/9
2.
The Respondent, U, has to pay to the Claimant the amount of EUR 15,000
within 30 days as from the date of notification of this decision.
3.
In the event that the aforementioned sum is not paid within the stated time
limit, interest of 5% p.a. falls due as of expiry of the stipulated time limit and
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 amount of costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 7,500 is to
be paid by the Respondent within 30 days of notification of the present
decision, as follows:
5.1
The amount of CHF 4,500 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
6.
The amount of CHF 3,000 to the Claimant.
The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent immediately and directly of
the account number to which the remittances 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. 63 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
8/9
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:
______________________
Jérôme Valcke
Secretary General
Enclosed: CAS directives
9/9