Solidarity Contribution
Texto da decisão
Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 28 September 2006,
in the following composition:
Slim Aloulou (Tunisia), Chairman
Theo van Seggelen (Netherlands), member
John Didulica (Australia), member
Philippe Diallo (France), member
Essa M. Saleh al-Housani (United Arab Emirates), member
on the claim presented by
the club, X
represented by Mr. , attorney at law
as Claimant
against
the club, Y,
as Respondent
regarding solidarity contribution related to the transfer of the player Z
I. Facts of the case
1. The player, Z, was born on 19 July 1973.
2. According to the player passport provided by the Football Federation of X,
the player in question was formerly registered with X on loan from 22 April 1996
until 6 August 1996.
3. On 22 September 2005, X lodged a claim in front of the Dispute Resolution
Chamber (DRC) against Y for payment of its proportion of the solidarity
contribution on the basis of Annex 5 of the Regulations for the Status and
Transfer of Players.
4. According to X, the player was transferred from the club V to Y in July 2005
and according to press reports the relevant transfer compensation amounts
to EUR 3,500,000.
5. X maintains that the player was registered with its club from 22 April 1996 until
31 December 1996, 8 months and 13 days and that therefore it is entitled to
receive 6,64% of the 5% solidarity contribution on the basis of article 1 of
Annex 5 of the said Regulations.
6. In reply to the claim, Y asserts that it is negotiating a payment plan via its
agent and that it would not fail to pay the solidarity contribution to X as soon
as the parties would have agreed on the amount, terms and payment plan.
7. To date, no solidarity contribution was paid by Y to X.
8. The Dispute Resolution Chamber is asked to decide on the amount of
solidarity contribution payable by the Respondent to the Claimant, if any.
II.
Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
First of all, the Chamber analysed whether it was competent to deal with the
matter at stake. In this respect, it referred to art. 18 par. 2 and 3 of the Rules
Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute
Resolution Chamber. The present matter was formally submitted to FIFA on 22
September 2005, as a consequence the Chamber concluded that the
revised Rules Governing Procedures (edition 2005) on matters pending
before the decision making bodies of FIFA are applicable to the matter at
hand.
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2.
With regard to the competence of the Chamber, art. 3 par. 1 of the abovementioned Rules states that the Dispute Resolution Chamber shall examine its
jurisdiction in the light of articles 22 to 24 of the current version of the
Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players (edition 2005). In
accordance with art. 24 par. 1 in combination with art. 22 (d) of the
aforementioned Regulations, the Dispute Resolution Chamber shall
adjudicate on disputes related to solidarity mechanism between clubs
belonging to different Associations.
3.
As a consequence, the Dispute Resolution Chamber is the competent body
to decide on the present litigation concerning the distribution of the solidarity
contribution claimed by the Claimant in connection with the transfer of the
professional Z to the Respondent.
4.
Subsequently, the members of the Chamber analyzed which edition of the
Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players should be applicable as to
the substance of the matter. In this respect, the Chamber referred to art. 26
par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players (edition
2005) in the modified version in accordance with the FIFA circular no. 995
dated 23 September 2005. Furthermore, it acknowledged that according to
the Claimant the professional had been registered for his new club in July
2005. This allegation has not been contested either by the Respondent or the
Football Association of X. Equally, the Chamber took note that the claim was
lodged at FIFA on 22 September 2005. In view of the aforementioned, the
Chamber concluded that the current FIFA Regulations for the Status and
Transfer of Players (edition 2005, hereafter: the Regulations) are applicable to
the case at hand as to the substance.
5.
Once its competence and the applicable Regulations were thus established,
the Chamber went on to deal with the substance of the case.
6.
The members of the Chamber duly noted that the Claimant claims payment
of solidarity contribution for part of the season of the player’s 23rd birthday
(the 1996 season) on the basis of the transfer of the player, Z, from V to the
Respondent in the summer of 2005.
7.
The Respondent, for its part, has stated that it is negotiating a payment plan
in order to pay the solidarity contribution to the Claimant. The Chamber took
particular note of the fact that the Respondent, however, has not contested
the allegations of the Claimant in its claim.
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8.
Taking into consideration the circumstance that the player was registered
with the Claimant on a loan basis, the members of the Chamber deemed it
opportune to refer to art. 10 of the Regulations, in accordance with which
the loan of a professional “is subject to the same rules as apply to the transfer
of players, including the provisions on training compensation and solidarity
mechanism.”
9.
Taking into account the above-mentioned elements, the Chamber agreed
that the Claimant is entitled to receive solidarity contribution in accordance
with art. 1 of Annex 5 of the Regulations.
10. Consequently, the Chamber proceeded with the calculation of the amount
of solidarity contribution payable by the Respondent to the Claimant.
11. The Chamber emphasized that, as established in art. 21 and art. 1 of Annex 5
of the Regulations, the new club, to which a player is transferred during the
course of an employment contract, is responsible for the distribution of 5% of
the compensation paid to the player’s former club to the club(s) involved in
the training and education of the player over the years. In the case at hand,
and taking into account the statement and findings under points I.4 and II.7
above, respectively, the relevant transfer compensation amounts to EUR
3,500,000.
12. The said art. 1 of Annex 5 of the Regulations further provides the figures for
the distribution of the solidarity contribution taking into consideration the
number of years (calculated pro rata if less than one year) that the player
was registered with the club(s) involved in his training and education
between the seasons of his 12th and 23rd birthdays .
13. In the present case, the Chamber noticed that as regards the player’s
registration period with the Claimant there is a discrepancy between the
statement of the Claimant and the player passport presented by the Football
Federation of X. The Claimant has failed to present documentary evidence in
support of its allegation that the player has remained registered with the
Claimant until 31 December 1996. Therefore, the members of the Chamber
concurred that the relevant registration period must be established on the
basis of the documentary evidence presented by the Football Federation of
X, i.e. the player passport. In this context and bearing in mind article 7 of the
Regulations, the Chamber pointed out that such player passport commonly
constitutes the main documentary evidence pertaining to the period of
registration of a player with a club.
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14. Consequently, the Chamber concluded that the calculation of the solidarity
contribution in the case at hand is to be made on a pro rata basis of the
season of the player’s 23rd birthday taking into consideration the registration
period as from 22 April 1996 until 6 August 1996. Therefore, the Chamber
concluded that 2,5% of the 5% solidarity contribution shall be apportioned to
the Claimant.
15. Having ascertained that the amount agreed upon by and between the
Respondent and V for the transfer of the player Z is EUR 3,500,000, 2,5% of the
5% solidarity contribution amounts to EUR 4,375.
16. In light of the above, the Chamber decided that the Respondent is liable to
pay to the Claimant the amount of EUR 4,375 as solidarity contribution.
*****
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III. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, X, is partially accepted.
2.
The Respondent, Y, must pay the amount of EUR 4,375 to the Claimant within
30 days of notification of the present decision.
3.
Any further claims of the Claimant are rejected.
4.
In the event that the amount of EUR 4,375 is not paid within the stated
deadline, an interest rate of 5% per year will apply as of expiry of the
aforementioned deadline and the case will immediately be presented to the
FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
5.
The Claimant is directed to inform the Respondent immediately of the
account number to which the remittance is to be made and to notify the
Dispute Resolution Chamber of every payment received.
6.
According to art. 61 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:
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:
Urs Linsi
General Secretary
Enclosed: CAS directives
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