Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
Decis ion of the
Dis pute Res olution Cham ber
passed in Zurich, Switzerland, on 30 October 2019,
in the following composition:
Geoff Thom s pon (England), Chairman
Roy Verm eer (The Netherlands ), member
Daan de Jong (The Netherlands ), member
on the claim presented by the player,
Is aac Chans a, Zambia
as Claimant
against the club,
S hillong Lajong FC, India
as Respondent
regarding an employment-related dispute arisen between the parties
I.
Facts of the cas e
1.
On 30 June 2014, the Indian club, Shillong Lajong FC (hereinafter: the club or the
Respondent) and the Zambian player, Isaac Chansa (hereinafter: the player or the
Claimant) signed an employment contract (hereinafter: the contract) valid as from
1 August 2014 until 31 May 2015.
2.
In accordance with the contract, the Claimant was entitled to the total
remuneration of USD 120,000 payable “in Indian Rupees as per the Dollar-Rupee
conversion rate at the first of each month”.
3.
In case of termination by the Claimant due to 3 outstanding salaries, the contract
entitled the Claimant to the residual value of his contract “provided that he
remains unemployed”. In case of termination by the Respondent due to a breach
of the player, the club would not have to pay any compensation to the player.
4.
At an unknown date, the Claimant was loaned by the Respondent to the Indian
club, North East United FC from 1 August 2014 to 31 December 2014.
5.
The Claimant held that allegedly on 8 June 2015, the General Secretary of the
Football Association of Zambia had lodged a claim in front of FIFA on behalf of
the Claimant requesting the total amount of USD 64,000.
6.
On 21 August 2018, the Claimant lodged a claim to FIFA against the Respondent
claiming the total amount of USD 60,000 as “damages for breach of contract,
punitive damages and interest”.
7.
In his claim, the Claimant considered that he was only paid USD 60,000 and that
consequently the club owed him USD 60,000.
8.
According to the Claimant, on 2 January 2015, the Respondent attempted to
make him sign a mutual termination letter in which it was stated that the
Claimant would be entitled to USD 10,000.
9.
In reply to the claim of the Claimant, the Respondent held that following the end
of the loan of the Claimant, the player’s agent and the club orally decided to
terminated the contract of the Claimant against USD 10,000 compensation and
the Claimant allegedly returned to Zambia.
10.
According to the Respondent, it was in constant contact with the agent of the
player regarding the termination of the contract and the payment of USD 10,000.
The Respondent further held that according to an exchange of email between the
club and the agent of the player, the player was complaining of not receiving the
totality of the USD 10,000.
Player Isaac Chansa, Zambia / Club Shillong Lajong FC, India
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11.
The Respondent further alleged that the Claimant started requesting USD 20,000
instead of the allegedly agreed USD 10,000. The Respondent argued that it had
paid USD 10,000 to the Claimant.
12.
After being requested, the player informed FIFA that he remained unemployed
for the relevant period.
II.
Cons iderations of the Dis pute Res olution Cham ber
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 matter at
hand. In this respect, it took note that the present matter was submitted to FIFA
on 21 August 2018. Consequently, the 2018 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 hand (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 October 2019), the Dispute Resolution Chamber would, in
principle, be competent to deal with the matter at stake, which concerns an
employment-related dispute with an international dimension between a Zambian
player and an Indian club.
3.
Notwithstanding the above, bearing in mind the present dispute concerns
amounts allegedly due under the employment contract signed by the parties on
30 June 2014 and valid as from 1 August 2014 until 31 May 2015, the members of
the DRC considered that they should examine if the present claim, or any part of
it, is barred by the statute of limitations.
4.
Indeed the members of the Chamber referred to art. 25 par. 5 of the Regulations
which, in completion to the general procedural terms outlined in the Procedural
Rules, clearly establishes that the Dispute Resolution Chamber shall not hear any
dispute if more than two years have elapsed since the event giving rise to the
dispute arose and that the application of this time limit shall be examined ex
officio in each individual case.
5.
In view of the above, the DRC deemed it fundamental to underline that in order
to determine whether the Chamber could hear the present matter, it should, first
and foremost, establish which is “the event giving rise to the dispute”, i.e. which
is the starting point of the time period of the two years as set out under art. 25
par. 5 of the Regulations.
Player Isaac Chansa, Zambia / Club Shillong Lajong FC, India
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6.
In his context, the DRC took note that the claim of the Claimant was vague in
terms to determination of the amounts claimed, and in this context, the Chamber
established that the event giving rise to the dispute should be set during the
course of the contract, i.e. between 1 August 2014 and 31 May 2015.
7.
Moreover, the members of the Chamber took note of the argumentation of the
Claimant according to whom he had previously lodged a claim to FIFA for the
same amounts via the Zambian Federation on 8 June 2015.
8.
In this respect, taking into account the content of the art. 12 par. 3 of the Rules of
Procedural Rules, according to which a party claiming a right on the basis of an
alleged fact shall carry the respective burden of proof. The Chamber noted that
the Claimant did not submit sufficient evidence that could help establish with
certainty that a claim had been lodged to FIFA previously to 21 August 2018, i.e.
the current claim.
9.
In continuation, since the Chamber was of the opinion that the Claimant was not
able to provide conclusive documentary evidence related to the claim allegedly
lodged on 8 June 2015, the only relevant date that can be establish as date of
claim is the one dated 21 August 2018. In consequence, the Chamber concluded
that the date of claim in the matter at hand was 21 August 2018.
10.
In this context, recalling that the present claim was submitted before FIFA on 21
August 2018, the Chamber concluded that the player’s claim for outstanding
remuneration regarding the contract valid as from 1 August 2014 until 31 May
2015, had fallen due more than two years prior to the date on which the Claimant
lodged his claim in front of FIFA, i.e. 21 August 2018.
11.
As a consequence, referring to art. 25 par. 5 of the Regulations on the Status and
Transfer of Players, the DRC concluded that the time limit of two years for the
Claimant to claim amounts allegedly due under the employment contract valid as
from 1 August 2014 until 31 May 2015, had elapsed at the time he had lodged his
claim in front of FIFA.
12.
Therefore, the Chamber decided that the claim of the Claimant is barred by the
status of limitations and, consequently, inadmissible.
*****
Player Isaac Chansa, Zambia / Club Shillong Lajong FC, India
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III.
Decis ion of the Dis pute Res olution Cham ber
The claim of the Claimant, Isaac Chansa, is inadmissible.
*****
Note related to the publication:
The FIFA administration may publish decisions issued by the Players’ Status Committee
or the DRC. Where such decisions contain confidential information, 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 20 of the Rules Governing the
Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber).
Note relating to the appeal procedure:
According to art. 58 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.
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:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
Player Isaac Chansa, Zambia / Club Shillong Lajong FC, India
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