Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
REF. FPSD-14845
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 8 October 2024
regarding an employment-related dispute concerning the player Christ
Mbondi
COMPOSITION:
Frans DE WEGER (The Netherlands), Chairperson
Peter LUKASEK (Slovakia), Member
Oleg ZADUBROVSKIY (Russia), Member
CLAIMANT:
Christ Mbondi, Cameroon
Represented by Ralph Carbel
RESPONDENT:
New Benghazi, Libya
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REF. FPSD-14845
I. Parties
1.
2.
The parties to this dispute are:
-
the Cameroonian player Christ Mbondi (hereinafter: the Claimant or Player); and
-
the Libyan club New Benghazi Club (hereinafter: the Club or Respondent), affiliated
to the Libyan Football Federation (LFF).
The Claimant and the Respondent and hereinafter jointly referred to as the parties.
II. Proceedings before FIFA
3.
On 4 June 2024, the Claimant filed the claim at hand before FIFA.
4.
In light of the evidence presented, the Dispute Resolution Chamber did not consider the
events alleged by the Player to have occurred as established facts, but instead as part of
the Player’s allegations, which are detailed below.
a. Position of the Claimant
5.
The Claimant alleged that on 6 November 2023, the Claimant and the Respondent
concluded an employment contract (hereinafter: the Contract), valid as from 6 November
2023 until the end of the 2023/2024 sporting season, and that the Respondent unilaterally
terminated said Contract without just cause.
6.
In support of his position, the Claimant submitted a copy of the Contract bearing the
signature of the Player only, but not of the Club. The Claimant stated that while the
document had been signed by both parties, he possessed only the player-signed copy.
7.
According to the Contract, the Respondent undertook to pay the Claimant
“$10,000, divided into payments according to the agreement of the two parties”
and
“(500) Libyan dinars as a monthly food allowance.”
8.
The Claimant stated that he received USD 4,000 in salaries from the Respondent.
9.
The Claimant further claimed that he trained and played in matches with the Club between
6 November 2023 and 24 February 2024.
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REF. FPSD-14845
10. On 24 February 2024, according to the Claimant, the Respondent booked a return flight
ticket for the Claimant to return to Cameroon.
11. On 26 February 2024, according to the Claimant, the Club’s driver handed the ticket to the
Claimant a drove him to the airport, whereafter the Claimant took the flight departing Libya
on the same day, arriving in Cameroon on 27 February 2024.
12. The Claimant argued that the Respondent owed the remaining USD 6,000 due salaries from
the Contract, plus the remaining food allowance instalments between 24 February 2024
until the end of the Libyan 2023/2024 sporting season which the Claimant states concluded
in July 2024. The Claimant calculates the allowance to be 4 instalments of LYD 500 at a total
of LYD 2,000, per the Claimant’s conversion to USD, approximately USD 414.
13. The Claimant also argued that an additional compensation was owed for moral damages
in the amount of USD 10,000.
14. The Claimant informed that he remained unemployed following the alleged termination of
the Contract. An ex officio review of the Transfer Matching System (TMS) confirmed that no
transaction was logged for the Player since 2021.
15. The Claimant requested the following relief:
“On these grounds, the Claimant hereby respectfully asks the FIFA DRC to:
a) rule that the Claim is admissible;
b) decide that the Respondent is liable to pay the amount of 16,414 USD to the Claimant as
compensation for breach of contract, with 5% interest p.a as from 24 February 2024 until
the date of effective payment on the amount of 16,414 USD”
b. Position of the Respondent
16. Despite being invited to do so, the Respondent failed to reply to the claim.
c. Information provided by the LFF
17. On 9 September 2024, the FIFA general secretariat requested the LFF to provide the
Contract concluded between the Claimant and the Respondent.
18. On 20 September 2024, the LFF informed the following:
“[Respondent] is a first club division league which is an amateur league and we don’t require
contract for players to be in registerer . [sic]”
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REF. FPSD-14845
III. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
a. Competence and applicable legal framework
19. First of all, the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Chamber or 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 4 June 2024 and submitted for decision on 8
October 2024. 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.
20. 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
Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (June 2024 edition), the Dispute
Resolution Chamber is competent to deal with the matter at stake, which concerns an
employment-related dispute with an international dimension between a Cameroonian
player and a Libyan club.
21. Subsequently, the Chamber analysed which regulations should be applicable as to the
substance of the matter. In this respect, it confirmed that, in accordance with art. 26 par. 1
and 2 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (June 2024 edition), and
considering that the present claim was lodged on 4 June 2024, the June 2024 edition of said
regulations (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter at hand as to the
substance.
b. Burden of proof
22. 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 Chamber 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).
c. Merits of the dispute
23. Having established the competence and the applicable regulations, the Chamber entered
into the merits of the dispute. In this respect, the Chamber started by acknowledging all
the above-mentioned facts as well as the arguments and the documentation on file.
However, the Chamber emphasised that in the following considerations it will refer only to
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REF. FPSD-14845
the facts, arguments and documentary evidence, which it considered pertinent for
assessing the matter at hand.
i. Main legal discussion and considerations
24. The Chamber then moved to the substance of the matter, and took note of the fact that
the Claimant alleged the Respondent terminated a contract between the parties without
just cause.
25. In this context, the Chamber acknowledged that its task was to determine whether a
contractual relationship existed between the parties wherein the Respondent undertook
to pay the Claimant remuneration, and whether the Respondent breached such contract.
26. Because the Chamber observed that the Respondent did not reply to the claim, it will base
its analysis on the evidence submitted by the Claimant (cf., art. 21, par. 1 of the Procedural
Rules).
27. The foregoing notwithstanding, the Chamber noted that the Claimant could not produce a
fully executed version of the Contract alleged to have been signed between the parties. By
the same token, no contract between the parties was registered with the LFF and/or
uploaded into the TMS.
28. Furthermore, taking note of the Claimant’s argument that an agreement between two
parties may be proven in other ways than presenting the Contract signed by both parties,
the Chamber reviewed the evidence presented, which included:
- A photo the Claimant labelled “Photo of Christ Mbondi with his Teammates of New Benghazi
Sports Club showing him among the scorers for the Club in a match”;
- A photo the Claimant labelled “Photo of Christ Mbondi with his teammates of New Benghazi
Sports Club before a Match”;
- A photo the Claimant labelled “Photo of Christ Mbondi during a match with New Benghazi
Sports Club against Al-Buraq Sports Club”; and,
- A flight ticket from Benghazi, Libya to Douala, Cameroon.
29. The Chamber highlighted that the photos did not include the Club’s name, and the Club
logo visible on one of the images – while similar – was not identical to the Club logo featured
on the Contract. The Chamber determined that the photos were not linked to the Club
name or its identity in any apparent way.
30. Moreover, the Chamber recalled that the flight ticket submitted, while indeed showing a
departure from Libya, did not include the Respondent’s name or other identifying
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REF. FPSD-14845
information. The Chamber noted that the Claimant alleged he was handed the ticket by the
Club’s driver so once again there was no evidence of a communication or email showing
that the Club was the one who booked the flight or delivered the ticket to the Claimant.
31. The Chamber observed that the Claimant alleged that the Respondent had paid USD 4,000
in salaries to the Claimant prior to the alleged termination, which could potentially be said
to establish the basis for partial performance by the Respondent on the Contract; however,
the Claimant submitted no proof of such payment.
32. In light of the above, the Chamber determined that the Claimant did not produce a single
piece of evidence of a communication between the parties, and found that even had the
Claimant provided a link via the photos that he was assigned in some capacity to the Club,
there was still no evidence corroborating the claim that the Respondent had assented to
pay remuneration to the Claimant.
33. Therefore, the Chamber was not convinced that the evidence submitted by the Claimant
presented sufficient proof that an agreement for the Respondent to pay the Claimant USD
10,000 plus LYD 500 food allowance was concluded between the parties.
34. Taking all of the above into account and referring to 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, the DRC concluded that the Claimant did not meet its burden
of proof in support of its claim and arguments and therefore, that the claim should be
rejected in its entirety.
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REF. FPSD-14845
IV. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Christ Mbondi, is rejected.
2.
This decision is rendered without costs.
For the Football Tribunal:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
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REF. FPSD-14845
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
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