Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
REF. FPSD-17825
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 27 March 2025
regarding an employment-related dispute concerning the player
Carlos Augusto Junior Folrenciañez Vera
COMPOSITION:
Martín AULETTA (Argentina), Deputy Chairperson
Calum BEATTIE (Scotland), Member
Stefano SARTORI (Italy), Member
CLAIMANT:
Carlos Augusto Junior Folrenciañez Vera, Paraguay & Italy
Represented by Diego Ariel Raguseo
RESPONDENT:
Oltrepo FBC, Italy
pg. 2
REF. FPSD-17825
I. Facts of the case
1.
According to the Paraguayan and Italian player Carlos Augusto Junior Florenciañez Vera
(hereinafter, the Player or the Claimant) on 26 June 2023 the Italian club Olterpo FBF
(hereinafter, the Club or the Respondent), through its Sports Director, sent him an
employment offer (hereinafter, the Offer) with the contractual terms that would govern
their employment relationship.
2.
According to the Offer:
“We [the Club] make request of sports performances for sporting seasons 2023-2024; 20242025 and 2025-2026 of [the Player] born on May 9, 1994 in Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), at
present Italian Citizen.
The economical conditions agreed are the following:
- Net salary Eur. 22.000,00 (twenty two) for year that will be paid in ten months.
- Accommodation for personal use free.
- Utilities will be paid directly by player.
- Food costs will not be paid by Company.
[The Club] reserves the right to transfer the player’s sporting performances to a professional
club.
The cost of airplane ticket to reach the summer camp will be reimbursed to player.
Right date will be communicate to player as son as possible.”
3.
The Offer is signed by Mr Nicola Raso as the Sports Director of the Club. Despite not being
a designated place for the Player’s signature, the Offer is also signed by the Player.
4.
On 3 September 2024, the Player put the Club in default, requesting the payment of five
monthly salaries and a bonus, in the total amount of EUR 14,000.
5.
On 29 November 2024, the Player unilaterally terminated the alleged employment
contract.
pg. 3
REF. FPSD-17825
II. Proceedings before FIFA
6.
On 16 January 2025, the Claimant filed the claim at hand before FIFA. A summary of the
parties’ position is detailed below.
a. Position of the Claimant
7.
According to the Claimant, the Offer contained all the essentialia negotii of an employment
contract, namely, the parties and their roles, the duration of the employment relationship,
the remuneration payable by the Club to the Player, and the parties’ signatures. In addition,
the Player contended that the existence of an employment contract is evidenced by the
fact that the Club paid him his monthly remuneration until March 2024.
8.
The Player further asserted that the Club stopped paying his monthly remuneration in
March 2024. Moreover, the Player claimed to have a just cause to terminate the alleged
employment contract on 29 November 2024 for the existence of outstanding salaries, after
having put the Club in default, to no avail.
9.
Based on the foregoing, the Player claimed to be entitled to EUR 10,998 as outstanding
remuneration for the months of April to September 2024 (i.e., EUR 1,833 each), as well as
to EUR 40,326 as compensation for breach of contract, representing the residual value of
the alleged employment contract.
10. The Player requested the following relief:
“(…)
3. Se haga lugar a la demanda, condenando al Club al pago de la suma de EUR 51.324
(cincuenta y un mil trescientos veinticuatro euros) en concepto de salarios adeudados, e
indemnización de acuerdo al art. 17 del RETJ, con más intereses del 18% anual”.
Free translation into English:
“3. The claim is upheld and the Club is ordered to pay the sum of EUR 51,324 (fifty-one
thousand, three hundred and twenty-four euros) as outstanding remuneration and
compensation in accordance with art. 17 RSTP, together with interest of 18% per annum”.
b. Position of the Respondent
11. The Club failed to reply to the claim despite having been invited to do so.
pg. 4
REF. FPSD-17825
c. Additional information provided by the FIGC
12. Upon request from the FIFA general secretariat, the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio
(FIGC) confirmed that the Player was registered with the Club holding Italian citizenship.
13. In addition, the FIGC provided the Italian passport of the Player.
III. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
a. Competence and applicable legal framework
14. First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter, the Chamber or the DRC) analysed
whether it was competent to deal with the case at hand. In this respect, it took note that
the present matter was presented to FIFA on 16 January 2025 and submitted for decision
on 27 March 2025. Taking into account the wording of art. 34 of the January 2025 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.
15. Furthermore, 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 par. 1 lit. b) of the January
2025 edition of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (hereinafter, the
Regulations), the DRC is competent to deal with employment-related disputes between a
club and a player of an international dimension, unless the parties had agreed to refer their
disputes to a National Dispute Resolution Chamber (NDRC), or a national dispute resolution
body operating under an equivalent name, that has been officially recognized by FIFA in
accordance with the National Dispute Resolution Chamber Recognition Principles.
16. In light of the above, the Chamber outlined that the wording of the cited provision clearly
implies that the first condition that needs to be compulsory fulfilled in order for FIFA to be
competent to hear an employment-related dispute between a club and a player is that said
dispute has an international dimension. This means that FIFA is only competent to hear an
employment-related dispute of such kind when the parties have different nationalities (cf.
DRC Decision of 15 November 2023, Gaitan).
17. Before analysing the foregoing, the Chamber 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 DRC stressed the wording of art. 13 par. 4 of the Procedural Rules, pursuant
to which it may consider evidence not filed by the parties, including, without limitation, the
evidence generated by or within the Transfer Matching System (TMS).
pg. 5
REF. FPSD-17825
18. Entering the analysis of the present dispute, the DRC first noted that in accordance with
the information available in TMS, the Player has dual nationality, Paraguayan and Italian.
19. The Chamber also noted that the above information was confirmed by the FIGC, which
confirmed that the Player was registered under Italian nationality.
20. In this context, the Chamber referred to the jurisprudence of the Football Tribunal, which
has repeatedly established that in cases where a player has dual citizenship, the
registration is a determining factor when assessing if the international dimension of the
dispute is given, considering that clubs may enjoy benefits in registering a player with a
certain nationality, inter alia, due to the specific limitations in the number of foreign players.
21. In line with the above, the DRC underscored that the internationality of a dispute in these
cases is determined according to the nationality under which a player is registered to play
football for the relevant club.
22. As provided in the Commentary to art. 22 of the Regulations:
“In summary, a dispute between a player and a club is deemed to be international whenever
the player and the club are of different nationalities. If the player holds dual nationality, the
dispute will be deemed to have an international dimension if the player is registered by their
club under their “foreign” nationality (e.g. a Brazilian/Italian player playing for a Brazilian
club is registered to play as an Italian. This is because players registered as locals as a result
of their “shared” nationality with the club cannot be deemed to be international players” (cf.
p. 445 of the Commentary).
23. Bearing in mind the foregoing, and considering that in accordance with the information
provided by the FIGC, the Player was registered under the same nationality as the Club, the
Chamber concluded that the present claim lacks international dimension as required by
art. 22 par. 1 lit. b) of the Regulations.
24. Based on the above, the Chamber determined that the Football Tribunal does not have
jurisdiction to hear the dispute at stake.
b. Costs
25. The Chamber 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 Chamber decided that no procedural costs were to be
imposed on the parties.
pg. 6
REF. FPSD-17825
26. Lastly, 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.
pg. 7
REF. FPSD-17825
IV. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The Football Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear the claim of the claimant, Carlos
Augusto Junior Folrenciañez Vera.
2.
This decision is rendered without costs.
For the Football Tribunal:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
pg. 8
REF. FPSD-17825
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
Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Legal & Compliance Division
396 Alhambra Circle, 6th floor, Coral Gables, Miami, Florida, USA 33134
legal.fifa.com | [email protected] | T: +41 (0)43 222 7777
pg. 9