Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
REF. FPSD-10701
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 25 July 2023
regarding an employment-related dispute concerning the player Olarenwaju
Ayobami Kayode
BY:
Michele Colucci (Italy)
CLAIMANT:
Olarenwaju Ayobami Kayode, Nigeria
Represented by Baran Ali Mizrak
RESPONDENT:
UMRANİYESPOR KULÜBÜ DERNEĞİ, Türkiye
pg. 2
REF. FPSD-10701
I. Facts of the case
1.
On 30 January 2023, the Nigerian player, Olarenwaju Ayobami Kayode (hereinafter:
Claimant or player) and the Turkish club, BEREKET SİGORTA UMRANİYESPOR (hereinafter:
club or Respondent) concluded an employment contract (hereinafter: contract) valid as from
30 January 2023 until 31 May 2023.
2.
According to the contract, the Respondent undertook to pay the Claimant the following
remuneration:
“FOR 2022/2023 FOOTBALL SEASON
• 5000, -EUR and 700,000, -TL will be paid as advance payment. These payments will be made
as follows:
- 5000, - EUR will be paid as advance payment in 2 days after T.F.F licensed the player.
- 300.000, - TL will be paid as advance fee on 28.02.2023 by cheque
- 400.000, - TL will be paid as advance fee on 15.03.2023 by cheque
• 200,000, -EUR salary will be paid as four equally as 50,000, - EUR in 4 months on the following
dates;
-
50,000, EUR on 28.02.2023
50,000, EUR on 31.03.2023
50,000, EUR on 30.04.2023
50,000, EUR on 31.05.2023
- The club will provide a rental car, a rental apartment and a round-trip flight ticket to the
player
- All amounts are net”
3.
According to the Claimant, the Respondent failed to pay a large part of his remuneration,
in the total amount of EUR 166,000, seemingly corresponding to the following:
-
EUR 16,000 due on 28 February 2023
EUR 50,000 due on 31 March 2023
EUR 50,000 due on 30 April 2023
EUR 50,000 due on 31 May 2023
4.
No prior default notice was sent to the Respondent.
pg. 3
REF. FPSD-10701
II. Proceedings before FIFA
5.
On 27 June 2023, the Claimant filed the claim at hand before FIFA. A brief summary of the
position of the parties is detailed in continuation.
a. Position of the Claimant
6.
The requests for relief of the Claimant, were that the Respondent pay him the following:
(a) “The Claimant firstly would like to request you to make a decision that the Respondent has to
pay the overdue and unpaid amount of net 166.000,00-EUR with its %5 p.a. interest starting
from the due dates which stated above until the date of effective payment.
(b) Because of the requested amount is definite and obvious, The Claimant request from your
Honourable Chamber to make a proposal to the Respondent Club according to Article 13 of
the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Player's Status Committee and the Dispute
Resolution Chamber.
(c) In consideration of the fact that the Respondent caused the Claimant to file the case herein,
we would like to request your honorable chamber to make a decision that the judicial costs
and the attorneyship fees that the Claimant is faced with shall be paid by the Respondent.”
7.
In his claim, the Claimant argued that the Respondent failed to comply with its contractual
financial obligations.
b. Position of the club
8.
In its reply, the Respondent rejected the proposal as made by the FIFA secretariat without
providing any reasons as to the said rejection, moreover it did not contest the claim of the
Claimant.
pg. 4
REF. FPSD-10701
III. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
a. Competence and applicable legal framework
9.
First of all, the Single Judge of the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter also referred
to as Single Judge) analysed whether he was competent to deal with the case at hand. In
this respect, he took note that the present matter was presented to FIFA on 27 June 2023
and submitted for decision on 25 July 2023. Taking into account the wording of art. 34 of
the March 2023 edition of the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal
(hereinafter: the Procedural Rules), the aforementioned edition of the Procedural Rules is
applicable to the matter at hand.
10. Subsequently, the Single Judge referred to art. 2 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules and
observed that in accordance with art. 23 par. 1 in combination with art. 22 lit. b) of the
Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (May 2023 edition), the Single Judge is
competent to deal with the matter at stake, which concerns an employment-related
dispute with an international dimension between a player from Nigeria and a club from
Türkiye.
11. Subsequently, the Single Judge analysed which regulations should be applicable as to the
substance of the matter. In this respect, he confirmed that, in accordance with art. 26 par.
1 and 2 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (May 2023 edition), and
considering that the present claim was lodged on 27 June 2023, the May 2023 edition of
said regulations (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter at hand as to the
substance.
b. Burden of proof
12. The Single Judge recalled the basic principle of burden of proof, as stipulated in art. 13
par. 5 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. Likewise, the Single Judge
stressed the wording of art. 13 par. 4 of the Procedural Rules, pursuant to which he may
consider evidence not filed by the parties, including without limitation the evidence
generated by or within the Transfer Matching System (TMS).
c. Merits of the dispute
13. His competence and the applicable regulations having been established; the Single Judge
entered into the merits of the dispute. In this respect, the Single Judge started by
acknowledging all the above-mentioned facts as well as the arguments and the
documentation on file. However, the Single Judge emphasised that in the following
considerations he will refer only to the facts, arguments and documentary evidence, which
he considered pertinent for the assessment of the matter at hand.
pg. 5
REF. FPSD-10701
i. Main legal discussion and considerations
14. The foregoing having been established; the Single Judge moved to the substance of the
matter and took note of the fact that the parties strongly dispute the payment of certain
financial obligations by the Respondent as per the contract.
15. In this context, the Single Judge acknowledged that his task was to determine, based on
the evidence presented by the parties, whether the claimed amounts had in fact remained
unpaid by the Respondent and, if so, whether the latter had a valid justification for not
having complied with its financial obligations.
16. The Single Judge noted that the club in its reply failed to contest the claim of the Claimant
or to present its position to the claim.
17. Moreover, the Single Judge highlighted that in the case at hand the Respondent bore the
burden of proving that it indeed complied with the financial terms of the contract
concluded between the parties, which it failed to do.
18. Taking the above into account and the documentation presented by the Claimant, the
Single Judge decided that the Respondent had failed to fulfil its contractually agreed
obligations and is thus to be held liable for the consequences thereof.
ii. Consequences
19. Having stated the above, the Single Judge turned his attention to the question of the
consequences of such unjustified breach of contract committed by the club.
20. As a consequence, the Single Judge decided that the Respondent is liable to pay to the
Claimant the amounts which were outstanding under the contract, i.e., EUR 166,000 as
outstanding salaries payable as follows:
-
EUR 16,000 due on 28 February 2023
EUR 50,000 due on 31 March 2023
EUR 50,000 due on 30 April 2023
EUR 50,000 due on 31 May 2023
21. In addition, taking into consideration the Claimant’s request as well as the constant practice
of the Single Judge in this regard, the latter decided to award the Claimant interest at the
rate of 5% p.a. on the outstanding amounts due to the Claimant.
pg. 6
REF. FPSD-10701
iii. Compliance with monetary decisions
22. Finally, taking into account the applicable Regulations, the Single Judge referred to art. 24
par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations, which stipulate that, with its decision, the pertinent FIFA
deciding body shall also rule on the consequences deriving from the failure of the
concerned party to pay the relevant amounts of outstanding remuneration and/or
compensation in due time.
23. In this regard, the Single Judge highlighted that, against clubs, the consequence of the
failure to pay the relevant amounts in due time shall consist of a ban from registering any
new players, either nationally or internationally, up until the due amounts are paid. The
overall maximum duration of the registration ban shall be of up to three entire and
consecutive registration periods.
24. Therefore, bearing in mind the above, the Single Judge decided that the Respondent must
pay the full amount due (including all applicable interest) to the Claimant within 45 days of
notification of the decision, failing which, at the request of the Claimant, a ban from
registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for the maximum duration
of three entire and consecutive registration periods shall become immediately effective on
the Respondent in accordance with art. 24 par. 2, 4, and 7 of the Regulations.
25. The Respondent shall make full payment (including all applicable interest) to the bank
account provided by the Claimant in the Bank Account Registration Form, which is attached
to the present decision.
26. The Single Judge recalled that the above-mentioned ban will be lifted immediately and prior
to its complete serving upon payment of the due amounts, in accordance with art. 24 par.
8 of the Regulations.
d. Costs
27. The Single Judge referred to art. 25 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules, according to which
“Procedures are free of charge where at least one of the parties is a player, coach, football agent,
or match agent”. Accordingly, the Single Judge decided that no procedural costs were to be
imposed on the parties.
28. Likewise, and for the sake of completeness, the Single Judge recalled the contents of art.
25 par. 8 of the Procedural Rules and decided that no procedural compensation shall be
awarded in these proceedings.
29. Lastly, the Single Judge concluded its deliberations by rejecting any other requests for relief
made by any of the parties.
pg. 7
REF. FPSD-10701
Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Olarenwaju Ayobami Kayode, is partially accepted.
2.
The Respondent, UMRANİYESPOR KULÜBÜ DERNEĞİ, must pay to the Claimant the
following amount(s):
(a) EUR 166,000 as outstanding remuneration plus 5% interest p.a. as from the
respective due dates until the date of effective payment as follows:
-
On the amount of EUR 16,000 as from 1 March 2023
On the amount of EUR 50,000 as from 1 April 2023
On the amount of EUR 50,000 as from 1 May 2023
On the amount of EUR 50,000 as from 1 June 2023
3.
Any further claims of the Claimant are rejected.
4.
Full payment (including all applicable interest) shall be made to the bank account indicated
in the enclosed Bank Account Registration Form.
5.
Pursuant to art. 24 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, if full payment
(including all applicable interest) is not made within 45 days of notification of this decision,
the following consequences shall apply:
1. The Respondent shall be banned from registering any new players, either nationally or
internationally, up until the due amount is paid. The maximum duration of the ban shall
be of up to three entire and consecutive registration periods.
2. The present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee
in the event that full payment (including all applicable interest) is still not made by the
end of the three entire and consecutive registration periods.
6.
The consequences shall only be enforced at the request of the Claimant in accordance
with art. 24 par. 7 and 8 and art. 25 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
7.
This decision is rendered without costs.
For the Football Tribunal:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
pg. 8
REF. FPSD-10701
NOTE RELATED TO THE APPEAL PROCEDURE:
According to article 57 par. 1 of the FIFA Statutes, this decision may be appealed against before
the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of receipt of the notification of this
decision.
NOTE RELATED TO THE PUBLICATION:
FIFA may publish this decision. For reasons of confidentiality, FIFA may decide, at the request
of a party within five days of the notification of the motivated decision, to publish an
anonymised or a redacted version (cf. article 17 of the Procedural Rules Governing the Football
Tribunal).
CONTACT INFORMATION
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FIFA-Strasse 20 P.O. Box 8044 Zurich Switzerland
www.fifa.com | legal.fifa.com | [email protected] | T: +41 (0)43 222 7777
pg. 9