DRC - Preliminary Decisions
Texto da decisão
REF FPSD-5705
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 2 June 2022
regarding an employment-related dispute concerning the player Wai-Tsun Dai
BY:
Frans de Weger (the Netherlands)
CLAIMANT:
Wai-Tsun Dai, China PR
Represented by Landing Law Firm
RESPONDENT:
Shenzhen FC, China PR
Page 2
REF FPSD-5705
I.
Facts of the case
1. The relevant parties to the dispute are:
a. The player, Mr Wai-Tsun Dai (hereinafter: the Claimant). The Claimant is of Chinese
nationality, and bearer of a passport/ID with card nr. EJ5057712.
b. The club Shenzhen FC (hereinafter: the Respondent) is a football club based in
Shenzhen, China PR.
2. On 27 February 2020, the Claimant and the Respondent (hereinafter jointly: the Parties) signed
an employment contract (hereinafter: the First Contract) valid as from the date of signature
until 31 July 2020.
3. In accordance with the First Contract, the Respondent undertook to pay to the Claimant inter
alia as follows:
a. CNY 300,000 gross total remuneration, payable in six (6) monthly instalments, which
shall be increased to CNY 1,800,000 if the Claimant played more than 750 minutes in
either the Chinese Super League / China League One or the Football Association Cup
over the course of the First Contract (cf. Article 2);
b. “The abovementioned amount is the basic annual salary standard of (the Player) for
the whole year of 2020. Since (the Player) has obtained the qualification to represent
(the Club) to participate in the 2020 season league, the remaining time in the league
shall not exceed half a year. The remaining league games after qualification ÷ the total
number of league games in the 2020 season × the abovementioned basic annual salary
of 2020. The basic annual salary of (the Player) in 2021 shall be adjusted based on the
basic annual salary standard for the whole year of 2020.” (cf. Article 2);
c. CNY 1,000,000 bonus payment if the Claimant is selected for the Chinese national
team international A-Level competition registration list (cf. Article 6).
4. On 1 July 2020, the Parties signed a second employment contract (hereinafter the Second
Contract), valid as from the date of signature until 30 June 2021.
5. In accordance with the Second Contract the Respondent undertook to pay the Claimant inter
alia a total remuneration in the gross amount of CNY 300,000.
6. On 1 January 2021, the Parties signed a third employment contract (hereinafter the Third
Contract) valid as from the date of signature until 31 December 2021.
7. In accordance with the Third Contract, the Respondent undertook to pay the Claimant inter
alia a total remuneration in the gross amount of CNY 1,054,990 (equals to 800,000 net) base
annual salary, which shall be increased to CNY 2,327,717 gross (equals to 1,500,000 net) if
Page 3
REF FPSD-5705
the Claimant plays more than 1,200 minutes in the Chinese Football Association League
(Chinese Super League and China League One) and Football Association Cup in the 2021
season.
8. By correspondence dated 24 January 2022, the Claimant put the Respondent in default of
payment of CNY 3,298,000, setting no time limit in order for the latter to remedy the default.
9. By correspondence dated 7 February 2022, the Claimant put the Respondent in default of
payment of the same outstanding amounts, setting no time limit in order for the latter to
remedy the default.
10. On 10 February 2022, the Claimant brought a claim before the Chinese Football Association
for the outstanding amount of CNY 3,298,000.
II. Proceedings before FIFA
11. On 7 April 2022, 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
12. The Claimant requested payment of the amount of CNY 3,298,000, which is calculated as
follows:
a. the adjusted salary for playing more than 750 minutes under the First Contract in the
amount of CNY 1,256,268;
b. the national team bonus under the First Contract in the amount of CNY 1,000,000;
c. the outstanding salaries for the months of July 2020 - December 2020 under the
Second Contract in the amount of CNY 141,732;
d. the adjusted salary for playing more than 1200 minutes in the 2021 season in the
amount of CNY 700,000; and
e. the outstanding salaries for the months of October, November and December 2021
under the Third Contract in the amount of CNY 200,000.
13. In his claim, the Claimant pointed out that the payment remained outstanding, despite the
fact that he put the Respondent in default.
Page 4
REF FPSD-5705
III. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
a. Competence and applicable legal framework
14. First of all, the Chairperson of the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter also referred to as
the Chairperson) analysed whether he was competent to deal with the case at hand.
15. In this respect, he took note that the present matter was presented to FIFA on 7 April 2022
and submitted for decision on 1 June 2022. Taking into account the wording of art. 34 of
the October 2021 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.
16. At the same time, the Chairperson confirmed that, in accordance with art. 19 par. 1 and 2 of
the Procedural Rules, he shall decide, in an expedited manner, whether the case at stake is
affected by any preliminary procedural matter (e.g. if the Football Tribunal obviously does not
have jurisdiction or if the claim is time-barred). Likewise, the Chairperson highlighted that, in
case the claim is not affected by any preliminary procedural matters, the FIFA general
secretariat would be ordered to continue the procedure (cf. art. 19 par. 3 of the Procedural
Rules).
17. Subsequently, the members of the Chamber 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 (March 2022 edition), the Dispute
Resolution Chamber is competent to deal with the matter at stake, which concerns an
employment-related dispute with an international dimension.
18. The Chairperson emphasised, in other words, that this means that FIFA is only competent to
hear an employment-related dispute between a player and a club when the parties have
different nationalities, without which the international element of the dispute is not fulfilled.
19. In this respect, the Chairperson noted that the dispute at hand involves two Parties that share
the same nationality, i.e. the Chinese nationality, on the basis that the Claimant is a citizen of
Hong Kong, whereas the Respondent is affiliated to the CFA. In this regard, the Chairperson
highlighted that an independent country, in the matter at hand the People’s Republic of China,
may have more than one member association of FIFA incorporated within its territory. The
jurisprudence of the DRC considers the nationality as the element to be analysed when
determining whether a contractual dispute enjoys international dimension.
20. In view of the aforementioned, the Chairperson highlighted that the Claimant was registered
under the same nationality as the Respondent at the time the claim at hand was lodged in
front of FIFA – 7 April 2022 – which is the moment the Claimant sought legal redress of his
contractual claims.
Page 5
REF FPSD-5705
21. As a consequence, in case the player has the same nationality from the country where the club
that holds his registration is based, the relevant dispute has to be considered a purely internal
(national) matter to be decided by the competent authorities in the respective country.
The Chairperson recalled that the jurisprudence of the Football Tribunal has adopted the
position outlined above in similar matters.
22. Based on the foregoing, and bearing in mind the content of art. 22 par. 1 lit. b) of the
Regulations, the Chairperson concluded that there is no international dimension to the present
matter and therefore the claim of the player is inadmissible.
23. Lastly, the Chairperson 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 Chairperson decided that no procedural costs were
to be imposed on the parties.
24. Likewise and for the sake of completeness, the Chamber recalled the contents of art. 25 par.
8 of the Procedural Rules, and decided that no procedural compensation shall be awarded in
these proceedings.
Page 6
REF FPSD-5705
IV. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The Football Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear the claim of the Claimant, Wai-Tsun
Dai.
2. This decision is rendered without costs.
For the Football Tribunal:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
Page 7
REF FPSD-5705
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).
CONTACT INFORMATION
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
FIFA-Strasse 20 P.O. Box 8044 Zurich Switzerland
www.fifa.com | legal.fifa.com | [email protected] | T: +41 (0)43 222 7777
Page 8