Training Compensation
Texto da decisão
REF TMS 3980
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 29 April 2021
regarding training compensation for the player Musa JUWARA
BY:
Clifford J. Hendel (USA / France), Deputy Chairman
Moham ed Muzamm il (Singapore), member
S téphane Burchkalter (France), member
CLAIMANT:
REAL BANJUL FC, Gambia
RESPONDENT:
CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L., Italy
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REF TMS 3980
I. FACTS OF THE CASE
Player:
Musa JUWARA
Date of birth:
26 December 2001
Player passports:
issued by the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) on 18 January 2019:
Season
2013
2014
2015
2016
Birthday
12th
13th
14th
15th
Club
Real Banjul FC
Real Banjul FC
Real Banjul FC
Real Banjul FC
Registration dates
01.11.13 - 31.10.14
01.11.14 - 31.10.15
01.11.15 - 31.10.16
01.11.16 - 31.12.16
Status
Amateur (permanent)
Amateur (permanent)
Amateur (permanent)
Amateur (permanent)
issued on the the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) on 14 May 2019:
Season
16/17
17/18
17/18
18/19
Birthday
15th
16th
16th
17th
Sporting seasons:
Date of
registration:
Club
ASD Virtus Avigliamo
ASD Virtus Avigliamo
AC Chievo Verona
AC Chievo Verona
Registration dates
06.09.16 - 30.06.17
01.07.17 - 02.02.18
03.02.18 - 30.06.18
01.07.18 onwards
Status
Amateur (permanent)
Amateur (permanent)
Amateur (permanent)
Professional (permanent)
1 November to 31 October (Gambia)
1 July to 30 June (Italy)
6 September 2016 with ASD Virtus Avigliamo as an amateur. The player was
neither registered under the FIGC’s limited exemption nor under art. 19 RSTP
via a minor application submitted to FIFA.
The player was registered under the limited exemption of the FIGC on 3 January
2018 with AC Chievo Verona. The FIGC indicated that the player was registered
based on a decision taken by the “Court of Potenza” on 12 December 2017.
1 July 2018 with AC Chievo Verona as a professional.
Claimant club:
Real Banjul FC (Gambia)
Respondent club:
Chievo Verona S.R.L. (formerly known as AC Chievo Verona)
UEFA, category I (EUR 90,000 per year) at the time of the player’s registration
as a professional
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Claim and Response:
1.
On 7 March 2019, Real Banjul FC lodged a claim in front of FIFA requesting training
compensation for the period of 1 November 2013 until 31 December 2016 on the ground of
the first registration of the player as a professional before the end of the season of his 23 rd
birthday. In particular, requested EUR 31,667 plus interest of 5 % p.a. as of the due date until
the date of effective payment.
2.
According to the Claimant, the player was registered with the Italian club, AC Chievo Verona,
“presumably in January 2018” first as an amateur and consequently changed his status as a
professional.
3.
In its reply, the Respondent rejected the claim of the Claimant.
4.
First of all, the Respondent maintained that on 1 October 2015, the player left his home country
Gambia for Libya and eventually arrived to Italy on 10 June 2016.
5.
On 6 September 2016, the player was registered within Italy with the Italian club, ASD Virtus
Avigliamo.
6.
On 28 March 2017, the Respondent received an official letter from the GFF, stating that the
player “is not registered with any club in The Gambia. In this regard [the player] is therefore free
to play for AC Chievo Verona SRL [the Respondent] as an Amateur.”
7.
On 15 December 2017, the player declared to the FIGC that he has “never been registered with
a member club of a foreign Federation.”. In this regard the Respondent pointed out that in the
player’s official statement the player stated that he has “never been registered with Club Real
de Banjul FC.”
8.
On 3 February 2018, the player was, indeed, registered with the Respondent as an amateur.
9.
The player was then registered as a professional with the Respondent on 1 July 2018.
10.
On 4 February 2019, the Respondent received a letter from the Claimant, requesting the
payment of training compensation of EUR 31,667 based on an attached player passport with
registration dates of the player with the Claimant from 1 February 2007 until 31 December 2016.
11.
According to the Respondent, such player passport in not official. In its reply to the Claimant on
20 March 2019, the Respondent rejected the Claimant’s request, based on the player’s
declaration to the FIGC as well as due to the inaccuracy of the player passport.
12.
With regard to the above, the Respondent was of the opinion that “the player left Gambia on 1
October 2015 and arrived in Italy on 10 June 2016 […] and Italian club A.S.D. Virtus Avigliano
registered the player on 6 September 2016.”
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13.
On 20 March 2019, the Claimant reiterated its request, enclosing another player passport with
registration dates of the player with the Claimant from 1 February 2010 until 31 December 2016.
14.
The Respondent contested the authenticity of the player passport.
15.
Allegedly, on 31 October 2019, the Respondent “signed a criminal complaint for fraud to be
filed with the competent authorities of Verona against Real Banjul [the Claimant] and its legal
representatives.”
16.
To summarize the arguments of the Respondent, on 1 November 2019, said party requested the
following:
a. “To accept the present reply;
b. To suspend the present proceeding until after the end of the criminal investigation
and/or proceeding before the competent authorities of Verona;
c. To reject the claim of Real Banjul in full, or to limit Real Banjul’s request to receive
training compensation as the FIFA DRC sees fit;
d. To order Real Banjul to bear any and all costs of the present proceedings;
e. To order Real Banjul to compensate the legal costs of Chievo in their full amount;
f. To inform the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and request application of the sanctions
provided in the FIFA Disciplinary Code;
g. To award Chievo any further or other relief as the FIFA DRC sees fit.”
17.
In its replica, the Claimant amended its claim in view of the evidence provided by the Respondent
with regard to the registration date of the player in Italy as follows:
“In view of the above, the Claimant hereby reiterates its claim for Training Compensation for the
player Musa Juwara, but in the amount of EUR 26,054.79, for the period from 01.11.2013 until
09.06.2016, only due to the evidence providing the player’s entrance in Italy. Moreover, the
Claimant hereby requests that all the Respondent’s requests shall be dismissed.”
18.
Furthermore, the Claimant rejected the possible suspension of the proceeding in connection
with the criminal proceedings in Verona, because “there is no evidence that any criminal
procedure has started”. What is more, the Claimant was of the opinion that “pursuant to FIFA
jurisprudence, FIFA is not obliged to suspend its procedures in case there is a pending criminal
case (…)”.
19.
With regard to the player’s official statements, the Claimant maintained that “such statement
given unilaterally by the player, (…), is not sufficient to set aside the information contained in
the official document issued by the competent Football Federation.”
20.
Furthermore, the Claimant continued that pursuant to FIFA jurisprudence, “a club wishing to
employ and register the player has to exercise due diligence and carry out all relevant
assessments prior to having the player transferred to it (DRC Decision n. 07170454-E).” In this
regard, the Claimant was of the opinion that the Respondent “cannot base its information
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regarding the player’s career history on the player’s statement only, but has to turn to the
respective association.”
21.
The Claimant pointed out that the letter from the GFF to the Respondent merely states that the
player, on 28 March 2017, was not registered with any Gambian club; not that he was ever
registered with any club in Gambia.
22.
In its duplica, the Respondent maintained its position detailed in its first submissions.
23.
In this regard, the Respondent reiterated that “the player has never been trained and educated
by Real de Banjul, nor has he been registered by the Gambian club” and that the Claimant “has
failed to submit any registration documents, witness statements, pictures, or any other
document evidencing to have provided training and education to the player.”
24.
The Respondent submitted statements by Mr Kemo Jawneh, a close friend of the player, as well
as Mr Buba Fallaboweh, “a well-known and reputed Gambian sports journalist”, who testified
that the player never played for the Claimant.
25.
Furthermore, the Respondent was of the opinion that the only evidence, the player passports,
“contain conflicting data” and that, allegedly, the legal representatives of the Claimant “had
influence on the content included in the player passport.”
26.
Hence, the Respondent reiterated that no training compensation is due.
27.
At last, in the event the DRC would decide to award the training compensation, the Respondent
“submits that the period of registration must be limited until 30 September 2015” since the
player left Gambia on 1 October 2015.
II. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Applicable law:
Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP): June 2018 edition
Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the
Dispute Resolution Chamber (Procedural Rules): 2021 edition
Jurisdiction:
Yes, uncontested
Admissible:
Yes, uncontested
Decision:
1.
The Claimant considers that the player’s registration with the Respondent was his first
professional registration in the sense of art. 20 and Annexe 4 RSTP. The Claimant is arguing that
the player was registered with it up until 9 June 2016 (after coming to knowledge that he
officially arrived in Italy on 10 June 2016);
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2.
The Respondent rejected the claim sustaining and that the player never played for the Claimant
and that its claim is fraudulent.
3.
It is undisputed that the player was registered for the first time as a professional with the
Respondent on 1 July 2018. In this respect, art. 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 RSTP stipulates that any
training compensation due in connection with the first registration as a professional of a player
shall be distributed, by the club registering the player as a professional for the first time in
accordance with the players’ career history as provided for in the player passport(s).
4.
In casu, the Respondent shall be responsible to distribute training compensation for the first
registration of the player as a professional to the club(s) affiliated to any different member
association(s) where the player was registered as from the start of his 12th birthday season up
until the start of his registration with the Respondent (i.e. 3 February 2018) in accordance with
the information contained within the relevant player passport(s).
5.
Art. 5 par. 1 RSTP stipulates that all professional and amateur players must be registered with
an association in order to play for a club whereas the associations are the ones responsible for
such registrations. Equally, art. 7 RSTP foresees that an association has to provide its affiliated
club registering a player with a player passport indicating the complete player’s football career
as from the season of his 12th birthday.
6.
According to the jurisprudence of the DRC, the Chamber shall in principle rely on the information
inputted in the player passport(s) issued by the relevant member association(s) unless there is
clear evidence that would contradict its contents.
7.
In addition, the jurisprudence of the DRC established that a registering club shall act with utmost
due diligence when registering a player. More particularly, the DRC has determined that in
instances where a registering club can demonstrate that it acted with due diligence in attempting
to obtain the accurate career history of a player but that the relevant member association
produced multiple contradictory player passports afterwards, the player passport first issued by
said member association (either downloaded in TMS or via official communication) shall be the
passport relied upon when determining if and to whom training compensation is payable.
8.
Based on the player passport issued by the GFF, the player was registered with the Claimant as
from 1 February 2010 until 31 December 2016.
9.
Nevertheless, the Respondent is rejecting the validity of the above player passport in view of the
fact that:
a. The player left Gambia on 1 October 2015;
b. The player arrived in Italy on 10 June 2016;
c. In any case the player was never registered with the Claimant.
10.
The allegation that the player left Gambia on 1 October 2015 is based on several statements of
the player, which are not backed by any further documents. Therefore, this allegation cannot be
taken into account.
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11.
The Italian authorities issued an official residence document to the player which stipulates that
the player entered Italy on 10 June 2016. Therefore, it is established that the player was no
longer in Africa as from this date onwards.
12.
As to the allegation that the player was never registered with the Claimant, the Respondent
supported its allegation with statements from the player, one of the player’s friends and a
Gambian journalist.
13.
However, the statements are not supported by any further documentation. Therefore, these
allegations are dismissed and it is considered that, in the absence of any conclusive evidence of
the contrary, that the player was registered with the Claimant whilst in Gambia, his country of
origin, as stated by the GFF.
14.
With regards to the registration of the player with the Claimant, Claimant amended its claim
upon becoming aware of the player’s date of entry in Italy (i.e. 10 June 2016), and argued that
the player was de facto registered with it as from 1 February 2010 until 9 June 2016.
15.
In line with the approach adopted with the DRC in previous disputes with a similar sequence of
events, although it appears very likely that the player transited in Africa for several weeks prior
to his arrival in Italy on 10 June 2016, there is no documentation on file that permits to establish
that the player ceased to be registered with the Claimant up until his arrival in Italy.
16.
In fact, the payment of training compensation is based on the registration, and not on the player
whereabouts until when it can be determined that the player is technically no longer a part of
the club, i.e. when it can be established that he is playing affiliated football in another club or
has officially moved to another country.
17.
In the present case, in the absence of any evidence of the player’s whereabouts before its official
entry in Italy on 10 June 2016, it is considered that the player was registered with the Claimant
as from 1 February 2019 until 9 June 2016. As such, the player was inter alia registered with the
Claimant during:
a. The entire season of his 12th birthday;
b. The entire season of his 13th birthday; and
c. For 221 days of the player’s 14th birthday season.
18.
Therefore, the Claimant shall, in principle, receive training compensation from the Respondent
based on the above registration.
19.
Nevertheless, the Respondent is arguing that it acted accordingly before registering the player
on 3 February 2018. In this respect, the Respondent relied on:
a. A declaration of the GFF on 28 March 2017 according to which the player “is not
registered with any club in The Gambia”; and
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b. A statement of the player dated 15 December 2017 in which he declared to the FIGC
that he has “never been registered with a member club of a foreign Federation.”
20.
Besides the statement of the player, there is no evidence that the player was never registered
with the Claimant. In fact, the GFF declared that as of 28 March 2017, the player was not
registered with any club in Gambia. This corresponds to the information issued in the GFF player
passport which indicated that the player’s registration with the Claimant ended on 31 December
2016. At no point the GFF declared to the Respondent that the player had never been registered
with any clubs in Gambia.
21.
In view of the fact that the player was registered in Italy (1) first with ASD Virtus Avigliamo on
6 September 2016 without any minor application as per art. 19 RSTP nor ITC request (or any
evidence that the FIGC contacted the GFF to enquire about the player’s potential registration
with any club in Gambia, his home country); and (2) then on 3 February 2018 by the FIGC via
the limited exemption based on the injunction of an Italian court, once again without any
evidence of any thorough enquiries made regarding the player’s potential registration in Gambia;
it can be concluded that the Respondent and the FIGC did not appear to have acted diligently.
22.
Therefore, in view of all the above, it is determined that training compensation is due to the
Claimant for the first professional registration of the player with the Respondent, in accordance
with art. 2 par. 1 lit. i) of Annexe 4 RSTP.
23.
According to art. 1 and art. 2 par. 1 lit. i) of Annexe 4 RTSP in combination with art. 3 par. 1 of
Annexe 4 RSTP, training compensation is in principle payable by the club registering the player
as professional for the first time to all the clubs where the player was registered as from the
beginning of the season of the player’s 12th birthday up until the end of the season of his 21st
birthday.
24.
As previously determined above, the player was registered with the Claimant:
a. The entire season of the player’s 12th birthday;
b. The entire season of the player’s 13th birthday; and
c. 221 days of the player’s 14th birthday season.
25.
Art. 5 par. 2 of Annexe 4 RSTP foresees that the first time a player registers as a professional,
the training compensation payable is calculated by taking the training costs of the new club
multiplied by the number of years of training.
26.
Upon registration of the player, the Respondent was classified under training category I UEFA.
27.
The training costs for category I clubs within UEFA are set at EUR 90,000 per year.
28.
Art. 5 par. 3 of Annexe 4 RSTP foresees that the training costs for players for the seasons
between their 12th and 15th birthdays (i.e. four seasons) shall be based on the training and
education costs of category 4 clubs.
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29.
The training costs for category IV clubs within UEFA are set at EUR 10,000 per year.
30.
Art. 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 RSTP stipulates that the amount payable of training compensation is
calculated on a pro rata basis according to the period of training that the player spent with each
club.
31.
Based on the above, the Claimant is entitled to receive EUR 26,054.79 as training compensation,
corresponding to:
a. EUR 10,000 for the training and education provided to the player during the course of
the season of his 12th birthday;
b. EUR 10,000 for the training and education provided to the player during the course of
the season of his 13th birthday; and
c. EUR 6,054.79 for the training and education provided to the player during the course
of the season of his 14th birthday.
32.
The Claimant requested the award of interest rate of 5% per annum, “as per the due date”.
33.
In this respect, the well-established jurisprudence of the DRC applies interests as from the first
overdue day for the payment of training compensation.
34.
The player was registered with the Respondent on 1 July 2018. According to art. 3 par. 2 of
Annexe 4 RSTP, training compensation was to be paid to the training club(s) 30 days after said
date, i.e. until 31 July 2018.
35.
As a result, the Claimant is entitled to receive 5% interests per annum as from the date at which
training compensation became overdue to the Claimant, that is to say as from 1 August 2018.
36.
The interest rate of 5% per annum on EUR 26,054.79 shall apply until the date of effective
payment of the outstanding training compensation and its applicable interest.
37.
In view of all the above, the claim of the Claimant is accepted and the Claimant shall receive
EUR 26,054.79 as training compensation, plus 5% interest p.a. on that amount, as from 1
August 2018 until the date of effective payment.
38.
No procedural costs are levied (cf. arts. 17 par. 1 and 18 par. 1 of the Rules Governing the
Procedure of the Players’ Status Committee and Dispute Resolution Chamber).
39.
Art. 24bis RSTP applies.
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III. DECISION
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Real Banjul FC, is accepted.
2.
The Respondent, Chievo Verona S.R.L., shall pay to the Claimant EUR 26,054.79 as training
compensation, plus 5% interest per annum on that amount as from 1 August 2018, until the date
of effective payment.
3.
The Claimant shall immediately inform the Respondent of the bank account to which the
Respondent must pay the due amount (including all applicable interest).
4.
The Respondent shall provide evidence of full payment to [email protected]. If applicable, the
evidence shall be translated into an official FIFA language (English, French, German, Spanish).
5.
If the due amount (including all applicable interest) is not paid by the Respondent within 45 days
as from notification of the bank account details, 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 and for the maximum duration of three
entire and consecutive registration periods.
2. The ban will be lifted immediately, and prior to its complete serving, following confirmation
that the due amount (including all applicable interest) has been received by the Claimant.
3. In the event that the payable amount as per in this decision is still not paid by the end of
the ban of three entire and consecutive registration periods, the present matter shall be
submitted, upon request, to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.
6. No procedural costs are payable (cf. arts. 17 par. 1 and 18 par. 1 of the Rules Governing the
Procedure of the Players’ Status Committee and Dispute Resolution Chamber).
For the Dispute Resolution Chamber:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
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NOTE RELATED TO THE APPEAL PROCEDURE:
Pursuant to article 58 paragraph 1 of the FIFA Statutes, this decision may be appealed before the
Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days of notification.
NOTE RELATED TO 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 20 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
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