Training Compensation
Texto da decisão
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 28 March 2012,
in the following composition:
Geoff Thompson (England), Chairman
Mario Gallavotti (Italy), member
Joaquim Evangelista (Portugal), member
on the claim presented by the club K,
as Claimant
against the club C,
as Respondent
regarding training compensation
in connection with the player J
I.
Facts of the case
1.
The Football Association of O (hereinafter: the FAO) confirmed that the player J
(hereinafter: the player), born on 22 March 1992, was registered with its affiliated club
K (hereinafter: the Claimant) as from 9 April 2009 until 8 April 2010 as a professional
football player.
2.
The FAO also confirmed that the football season in country O runs as from 1 July until
30 June of the following year.
3.
According to a written confirmation received from the Football Association of B
(hereinafter: the FAB), the player was registered with its affiliated club C (hereinafter:
the Respondent) on 20 April 2010 as a professional football player.
4.
The FAB also confirmed that the Respondent belonged to the category I (indicative
amount of USD 50,000 per year within CONMEBOL) during the sporting season when
the player was registered with it.
5.
On 24 June 2011, the Claimant contacted FIFA, asking for its proportion of training
compensation from the Respondent. In particular, the Claimant requested to receive the
amount of USD 50,000 as well as 5% interest p.a. to be applied on said amount as from
8 April 2010.
6.
In spite of having been invited to present its position on the Claimant’s claim, no reply
was ever received from the Respondent during the investigation-phase related to the
matter at hand.
II.
Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the DRC or the Chamber)
analysed whether it was competent to deal with the case at hand. In this respect, the
Chamber referred to art. 21 par. 1 and 2 of the Rules governing the procedures of the
Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (edition 2008;
hereinafter: the Procedural Rules) and noted that the present matter was submitted to
FIFA on 24 June 2011, thus after the aforementioned Procedural Rules entered into
force on 1 July 2008. Consequently, the DRC concluded that the 2008 edition of the
Procedural Rules is applicable to the matter at hand.
2.
Subsequently, the members of the chamber referred to art. 3 par. 1 of the Procedural
Rules, which states that the Dispute Resolution Chamber shall examine its jurisdiction in
the light of art. 22 to 24 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players
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(editions 2009 and 2010). In accordance with art. 24 par. 1 and 2 in combination with
art. 22 lit. d) of the aforementioned Regulations, the Dispute Resolution Chamber is
competent to decide on the present litigation concerning the training compensation
between clubs belonging to different associations for the training and education of the
player.
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, taking into consideration that the player was registered with the Respondent
on 20 April 2010 as a professional football player, it confirmed that in accordance with
art. 26 par. 1 and 2 of the aforementioned Regulations, the 2009 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, the Chamber entered into the substance of the matter. In this respect, the
members of the Chamber started by acknowledging the facts of the case as well as the
documentation contained in the file.
5.
First and foremost, the Chamber stated that, as established in art. 20 of the Regulations
in combination with art. 1 par. 1 and art. 2 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations, training
compensation is payable, as a general rule, for training incurred between the age of 12
and 21, when the player concerned is registered for the first time as a professional or
when a professional is transferred between two clubs of two different associations,
before the end of the season of the player’s 23rd birthday. In the latter case, training
compensation is owed only to the former club of the player, but not to the previous
clubs (art. 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations).
6.
In this respect, the members of the Chamber started by acknowledging that the player,
born on 22 March 1992, was, according to the player’s passport issued by the FAO,
registered as a professional football player with the Claimant as from 9 April 2009 until
8 April 2010 (i.e. as from the season of the player’s 17th birthday to the season of the
player’s 18th birthday). Also, based on the information submitted by the FAO, the DRC
acknowledged that the football season in country O runs as from 1 July until 30 June of
the following year.
7.
Moreover, the members of the Chamber duly noted that according to a written
confirmation received from the FAB, the player was registered with the Respondent on
20 April 2010 (i.e. during the season of the player’s 18th birthday) as a professional
player and that the Respondent belonged to the category I (indicative amount of USD
50,000 per year within CONMEBOL) during the sporting season when the player was
registered with the latter.
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8.
In continuation, the members of the Chamber noted that, on the one hand, the
Claimant claimed training compensation from the Respondent in the amount of
USD 50,000, as well as 5% interest p.a. to be applied on said amount as from 8 April
2010.
9.
On the other hand, the members of the Chamber took due note that the Respondent, in
spite of having been invited to present its position, did not submit any reply to the claim
during the investigation-phase related to the matter at hand.
10.
However, the DRC noted that the Respondent, on 27 March 2012, i.e. one day prior to
the meeting of the DRC scheduled on 28 March 2012, provided FIFA for the first time
with a correspondence asserting that it received only the letter of FIFA dated 23 March
2012 related to the upcoming submission of the matter at hand to the decision-making
body. By said letter, the Respondent asked for the withdrawal of the matter from the
agenda of the meeting of the DRC and to be granted a new deadline in order to be able
to provide its position with regard to the claim at hand.
11.
In this regard, the DRC noted that according to the documents at disposal on file, FIFA
informed the Respondent about the claim of the Claimant via its national association,
the FAB, on 19 July 2011. Furthermore, on 2 September 2011, FIFA informed the
Respondent via the FAB that the investigation-phase of the matter at hand had been
concluded and that the present matter would be submitted to the DRC for
consideration and decision. Finally, it could be established that on 23 March 2012, FIFA
informed the Respondent via the FAB that the matter at hand would be submitted on
the next meeting of the DRC on 28 March 2012.
12.
In view of the above, and in conformity with the constant and well-established practice
of FIFA to send any correspondence and/or documentation to clubs via the respective
members of FIFA, i.e. the football associations, during the investigation of a matter
pending in front of the deciding bodies, the DRC concluded that the Respondent had
properly received the correspondence through the FAB. Therefore the legal principle of
the right to be heard had been duly respected.
13.
In continuation, the DRC considered that by not having presented any reply to the claim
lodged against it, the Respondent had renounced to its right to present a defence and
accepted the allegations of the Claimant.
14.
In light of the aforementioned, the DRC concluded that, based on the documents at
disposal, it was established that the professional player in question, born on 22 March
1992, was registered with the Claimant as from 9 April 2009 until 8 April 2010 before
being internationally transferred in April 2010, i.e. before the end of the season of his
23rd birthday. Consequently, the Chamber concluded that the Claimant was fulfilling the
required conditions to receive training compensation from the Respondent.
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15.
In view of the above-mentioned considerations, the DRC decided that the Respondent
was liable to pay training compensation to the Claimant in accordance with art. 20 and
Annexe 4 of the Regulations.
16.
Turning its attention to the calculation of training compensation payable by the
Respondent to the Claimant, the Chamber referred to art. 5 par. 1 and 2 of the Annexe
4 of the Regulations, which stipulate that as a general rule, it is necessary to take into
consideration the costs that would have been incurred by the new club as if it had
trained the player itself and thus, training compensation is calculated based on the
training costs of the new club multiplied by the number of years of training with the
former club.
17.
As a result, and considering the contents of the above-mentioned points II. 5., 6. and 7.,
as well as art. 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 of the Regulations, which stipulates that the amount
payable is calculated on a pro rata basis according to the period of training that the
player spent with each club, the Chamber concluded that the effective period of time to
be taken into account in the matter at stake corresponds to 12 months (i.e. 3 months of
the sporting season 2008/2009 of the FAO and 9 months of the sporting season
2009/2010 of the FAO).
18.
As a result, the DRC determined that the Claimant is entitled to receive the amount of
USD 50,000 from the Respondent for the training and education of the player
concerned.
19.
Therefore, the Chamber decided that the Respondent must pay the amount of
USD 50,000 as training compensation to the Claimant.
20.
Moreover, the Chamber stressed that, as established in art. 3 par. 2 of Annexe 4 of the
Regulations, the deadline for payment of training compensation by the new club is
30 days following the registration of the player.
21.
In this regard, and taking into consideration the Claimant’s claim and the information
provided by the FAO (cf. point I. 3.), the members of the Chamber decided that the
Respondent has to pay, in conformity with its longstanding practice, an interest at 5%
p.a. over the amount due as training compensation, calculated as of the 31st day of the
registration of the player with the Respondent, i.e. as of 21 May 2010, and not as of
8 April 2010 as claimed by the Claimant, until the date of effective payment.
22.
In continuation, the Chamber referred to 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, costs in the maximum amount of
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CHF 25,000 are levied. The costs are to be borne in consideration of the parties’ degree
of success in the proceedings.
23.
In this respect, the Chamber reiterated that the claim of the Claimant is partially
accepted. Therefore, the Respondent has to bear the costs of the current proceedings in
front of FIFA.
24.
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.
25.
The amount in dispute to be taken into consideration in the present proceedings
amounts to USD 50,000 related to the claim of the Claimant. Therefore, the Chamber
concluded that the maximum amount of costs of the proceedings corresponds to
CHF 5,000 (cf. table in Annexe A).
26.
Considering that the case at hand did not show any particular factual difficulty and
that, on the other hand, given the fact that the Respondent never took position in the
dispute in spite of having been invited to do so by FIFA, the DRC determined the final
amount of costs of the current proceedings to the amount of CHF 5,000.
27.
In view of the above, the Chamber concluded that the amount of CHF 5,000 has to be
paid by the Respondent to cover the costs of the present proceedings.
28.
In conclusion, the DRC decided that the Respondent is liable to pay the amount of
USD 50,000 plus 5% interest p.a. as of 21 May 2010 until the date of effective payment
to the Claimant as training compensation for the player as well as the amount of
CHF 5,000 as procedural costs to FIFA.
29.
Finally, the Chamber concluded its deliberation by deciding that any further claim
lodged by the Claimant is rejected.
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III.
Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, club K, is partially 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 USD 50,000 plus 5% interest p.a. due as from
21 May 2010 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 amount of costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 5,000 is to be paid
by the Respondent within 30 days of notification of the present decision 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
6.
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.
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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 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
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