Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
REF. FPSD-18202
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 18 March 2025
regarding an employment-related dispute concerning the player Francisco
Clailson Mendes da Silva
BY:
Alejandro ATILIO TARABORELLI (Argentina & Italy)
CLAIMANT:
Francisco Clailson Mendes da Silva, Brazil
Represented by Evandro Luis Rezende Forte
RESPONDENT:
Alsafa Club, Saudi Arabia
Represented by Islam Hisham
pg. 2
REF. FPSD-18202
I. Facts of the case
1.
On 7 August 2024, the Brazilian player, Francisco Clailson Mendes da Silva (hereinafter: the
Player or the Claimant), and the Saudi Arabian club, Alsafa Club (hereinafter: the Club or the
Respondent) concluded a “Schedule of Payments- Agreement” (hereinafter: the Settlement
Agreement) to establish the method of payment of the amounts outstanding and owed by
the Club to the Player upon the conclusion of the employment relationship.
2.
According to the Settlement Agreement, the parties agreed on the following payment
schedule (quote verbatim):
Article/ item
The remainder of the
December salary 2023
Salary of January 2024
Salary of February 2024
Salary of March 2024
Salary of April 2024
Salary of May 2024
TOTAL
Monetary value in Saudi
Riyals
25568.44
51136.88
51136.88
51136.88
51136.88
51136.88
281.252.83 R
Due Date
30/08/2024
30/08/2024
30/09/2024
30/10/2024
30/11/2024
30/12/2024
“That I have agreed with Al-Safa Club to schedule the winning bonuses due and I have no
objection to scheduling the winning bonuses due financially, as shown in the following table”:
Match/ Date
Albatin 31/01/2024
Hajer 06/02/2024
Alarabi 20/02/2024
Qaisumah 29/03/2024
Taraji 15/04/2024
Aljablin 15/05/2024
Total
3.
Amount
5000 R
5000 R
7000 R
7000 R
3500 R
2000 R
29500 R
Valid amount due
30/10/2024
30/11/2024
30/12/2024
30/01/2025
28/02/2025
30/03/2025
Finally, the parties agreed on the following penalty clause (quote verbatim):
“In the event that the first party is late in paying a salary from the salaries scheduled by
Al-Safa Club (the first party), all amounts due will become as follows:
A) In the event of failure to pay any payment, the first party is obliged to pay a fine of
5,000 riyals, five thousand Saudi riyals, to the first party only for each payment.
B) Both parties agree that the fines and interest are reasonable, and that the Dispute
pg. 3
REF. FPSD-18202
Resolution Chamber of the FIFA Court of Arbotration for Sport shall have jurisdiction
to hear any dispute relating to the understanding or application of the scheduling.”
4.
On an unspecified date, the Club paid the Player the amount of SAR 127,842.20
corresponding to (a) the balance of the salary of December 2023, (b) the salary of January
2025 and (c) the salary of February 2024.
5.
In December 2024, the Player contacted the Club via WhatsApp asking about the payment
of the remaining salaries. The Player reiterated his request in January 2025, to no avail.
II. Proceedings before FIFA
6.
On 12 February 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.
The Claimant requested the following amounts:
“FIRST – To uphold the present Claim in full;
SECOND – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 51,136.88 due as outstanding salary
due for March 2024, plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 October 2024 until the date
of effective payment;
THIRD – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as a fine for the late payment,
plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 October 2024 until the date of effective payment;
FOURTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as an outstanding winning
bonus due on 31/1/2024 (Albatin), plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 October 2024
until the date of effective payment;
FIFTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as a fine for the late payment,
plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 October 2024 until the date of effective payment;
SIXTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 51,136.88 due as outstanding salary due
for April 2024, plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 1 December 2024 until the date of
effective payment;
SEVENTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as a fine for the late payment,
plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 1 December 2024 until the date of effective payment;
EIGHTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as an outstanding winning
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REF. FPSD-18202
bonus due on 6/2/2024 (Hajer), plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 1 December 2024
until the date of effective payment;
NINETH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as a fine for the late payment,
plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 1 December 2024 until the date of effective payment;
TENTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 51,136.88 due as outstanding salary due
for May 2024, plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 December 2024 until the date of
effective payment;
ELEVENTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as a fine for the late
payment, plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 December 2024 until the date of
effective payment;
TWELFTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 7,000 due as an outstanding winning
bonus due on 20/2/2024 (Alarabi), plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 December
2024 until the date of effective payment;
THIRTEENTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as a fine for the late
payment, plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 December 2024 until the date of
effective payment;
FOURTEENTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 7,000 due as an outstanding
winning bonus due on 29/3/2024 (Qaisumah), plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31
January 2025 until the date of effective payment;
FIFTEENTH – To order the Club to pay the Player SAR 5,000 due as a fine for the late
payment, plus interest at a rate of 5% p.a. as of 31 January 2025 until the date of effective
payment;
SIXTEENTH – To ban the Club from registering any new players, either national or
internationally, for 2 entire and consecutive registration periods;
SEVENTEENTH – To open the proceedings regarding the present dispute and notify the
Club immediately; and
EIGHTEENTH – To confirm that the ongoing proceedings are free of any costs”
8.
Regarding the payment of the fines requested, the Player argued the following:
“In consideration of this provision, it is evident that the Club shall incur a fine of SAR 5,000
for each instance of an unpaid instalment. Therefore, considering that, up to date, the
Club has not paid 7 instalments, such a fine corresponds to SAR 35,000.
pg. 5
REF. FPSD-18202
Additionally, to the total outstanding amounts, and following the well-established
jurisprudence set out by the decision-making bodies of FIFA, the Club shall also pay a
default interest to the Player, considering the amounts mentioned above and the due
dates.
For the sake of complementation, the longstanding CAS jurisprudence clarifies that the
default interest applicable shall not be less than a rate of 5% annually, which is also the
very same proportion (ratio) applied by the members of the decision-making bodies of
FIFA.”
b. Position of the Respondent
9.
In its reply, the Respondent requested to declare the case inadmissible as the Claimant did
not comply with the requirements of art. 12bis of the Regulations on the Status and
Transfer of Players as he “as no formal written notice of default was provided to the Club before
initiating the present proceedings.”
10. The Respondent also alleged that due to the financial difficulties, the latter was unable to
pay the rest of the instalments.
11. Finally, the Respondent requested the following relief:
“1) Originally: To hold this case inadmissible on procedural grounds due to the Claimant
violating Article 12 bis of the FIFA RSTP.
2) Alternatively: only if the Honorable Chamber does not agree with the above request, to grant
an extension to the Club to make the payments to the Player.
3) Refrain from imposing any sporting sanctions on the Respondent, considering its
demonstrated good faith and commitment to fulfilling its obligations.
4) Order the Claimant to bear all costs of this CAS proceeding.”
pg. 6
REF. FPSD-18202
III. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
a. Competence and applicable legal framework
12. First of all, the Single Judge of the Dispute Resolution Chamber (hereinafter: the Single Judge)
analysed whether he was competent to deal with the case at hand. In this respect, he took
note that the present matter was presented to FIFA on 12 February 2025 and submitted
for decision on 18 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.
13. Furthermore, the Single Judge 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 (January 2025 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 Brazilian player
and a Saudi club.
14. Subsequently, the Single Judge analysed which regulations should be applicable as to the
substance of the matter. In this respect, he confirmed that, in accordance with art. 29 of
the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, the January 2025 edition of said
regulations (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter at hand as to the
substance.
b. Burden of proof
15. The Single Judge 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 Single Judge
stressed the wording of art. 13 par. 4 of the Procedural Rules, pursuant to which he 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
16. Having established the competence and the applicable regulations, the Single Judge
entered into the merits of the dispute. In this respect, the Single Judge started by
acknowledging all the above-mentioned facts as well as the arguments and the
documentation on file. However, the Single Judge emphasised that in the following
considerations he will refer only to the facts, arguments and documentary evidence, which
he considered pertinent for assessing the matter at hand.
pg. 7
REF. FPSD-18202
i. Main legal discussion and considerations
17. The Single Judge then moved to the substance of the matter, and acknowledged that his
task was to determine which amounts remained outstanding and whether the penalty
clause was proportionate.
18. In this regard, the Single Judge noted that the Claimant requested the following amounts
arising from the Settlement Agreement, which the Respondent did not dispute as still
outstanding:
Salaries:
• Salary of March 2024 of SAR 51,136.88 payable until 30 October 2024;
• Salary of April 2024 of SAR 51,136.88 payable until 30 November 2024;
• Salary of May 2024 of SAR 51,136.88 payable until 30 December 2024.
Bonuses:
• SAR 5,000 payable until 30 October 2024;
• SAR 5,000 payable until 30 November 2024;
• SAR 7,000 payable until 30 December 2024;
• SAR 7,000 payable until 30 January 2025.
19. Therefore, based on the documentation on file, the Single Judge concluded that the above
salaries and bonuses agreed in the Settlement Agreement remained outstanding. Although
the Respondent did not dispute that the aforementioned amounts remained outstanding,
it did invoke financial difficulties to justify their non-payment.
20. In this respect, the Single Judge pointed out that it is a well-established jurisprudence of
the Dispute Resolution Chamber that the financial difficulties of which no evidence was
presented, cannot discharge the Respondent from its financial liabilities vis a vis the
Claimant. Therefore, in the present case, the Single Judge decided that the allegations
regarding the financial difficulties cannot be accepted.
21. Consequently, in view of the above and based on the principle of pacta sunt servanda, the
Single Judge decided to award to the Claimant the above amounts, totalling SAR
177,410.64.
22. In addition, taking into consideration the Claimant’s request as well as the constant practice
of the Dispute Resolution Chamber in this regard, the Single Judge decided to award the
Claimant interest at the rate of 5% p.a. on the outstanding amounts as follows:
•
5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 51,136.88 as from 31 October 2024 until
the date of effective payment;
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REF. FPSD-18202
•
5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 5,000 as from 31 October 2024 until the
date of effective payment;
•
5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 51,136.88 as from 1 December 2024 until
the date of effective payment;
•
5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 5,000 as from 1 December 2024 until the
date of effective payment;
•
5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 51,136.88 as from 31 December 2024
until the date of effective payment;
•
5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 7,000 as from 31 December 2024 until
the date of effective payment;
•
5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 7,000 as from 31 January 2025 until the
date of effective payment.
23. In continuation, the Single Judge assessed the proportionality of the penalty clause which
read as follows:
“In the event of failure to pay any payment, the first party is obliged to pay a fine of 5,000
riyals, five thousand Saudi riyals, to the first party only for each payment.”
24. Despite the fact that the proportionality of the penalty clause has not been disputed or
challenged by the Respondent, the Single Judge considered that it had to be assessed ex
officio.
25. In view of the above, the Single Judge observed that each delayed payment triggered a fine
of SAR 5,000. Therefore, as there have been 7 outstanding payments arising from the
Settlement Agreement, the total amount due as penalty is SAR 35,000 (i.e. SAR 5,000 x 7).
26. In this regard, the Single Judge recalled that based on the longstanding jurisprudence of
the Dispute Resolution Chamber, a penalty clause needs to satisfy the proportionality test
on a case-by-case basis. In particular, the Single Judge recalled that contractually stipulated
penalties based on a percentage of the principal amount due are generally considered
proportionate if the penalty does not exceed 50% of the principal amount due.
27. In the case at hand, the Single Judge considered that based on the wording of the penalty
clause, the proportionality shall be assessed based on the total amount that was due and
not separately per instalment.
28. Therefore, as the total amount due was SAR 177,410.64, the amount corresponding to the
penalty, i.e. SAR 35,000, represented 20% of the said amount.
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REF. FPSD-18202
29. Consequently, the Single Judge decided that the penalty is proportionate and reasonable
as it represented 20% of the total amount due.
ii. Compliance with monetary decisions
30. Finally, taking into account the applicable Regulations, the Single Judge referred to art. 24
par. 1 and 2 of the Regulations, which stipulate that, with his decision, the pertinent FIFA
deciding body shall also rule on the consequences deriving from the failure of the
concerned party to pay the relevant amounts of outstanding remuneration and/or
compensation in due time.
31. In this regard, the Single Judge highlighted that, against clubs, the consequence of the
failure to pay the relevant amounts in due time shall consist of a ban from registering any
new players, either nationally or internationally, up until the due amounts are paid. The
overall maximum duration of the registration ban shall be of up to three entire and
consecutive registration periods.
32. Therefore, bearing in mind the above, the Single Judge decided that the Respondent must
pay the full amount due (including all applicable interest) to the Claimant within 45 days of
notification of the decision, failing which, at the request of the Claimant, a ban from
registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, for the maximum duration
of three entire and consecutive registration periods shall become immediately effective on
the Respondent in accordance with art. 24 par. 2, 4, and 7 of the Regulations.
33. The Respondent shall make full payment (including all applicable interest) to the bank
account provided by the Claimant in the Bank Account Registration Form, which is attached
to the present decision.
34. The Single Judge recalled that the above-mentioned ban will be lifted immediately and prior
to its complete serving upon payment of the due amounts, in accordance with art. 24 par.
8 of the Regulations.
d. Costs
35. The Single Judge 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 Single Judge decided that no procedural costs were to be
imposed on the parties.
36. Likewise, and for the sake of completeness, the Single Judge recalled the contents of art.
25 par. 8 of the Procedural Rules and decided that no procedural compensation shall be
awarded in these proceedings.
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REF. FPSD-18202
37. Lastly, the Single Judge concluded his deliberations by rejecting any other requests for
relief made by any of the parties.
pg. 11
REF. FPSD-18202
IV. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Francisco Clailson Mendes da Silva, is partially accepted.
2.
The Respondent, Alsafa Club, must pay the Claimant the following amounts:
- SAR 177,410.64 as outstanding remuneration plus 5% interest p.a. as follows:
- 5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 51,136.88 as from 31 October 2024 until
the date of effective payment;
- 5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 5,000 as from 31 October 2024 until the
date of effective payment;
- 5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 51,136.88 as from 1 December 2024 until
the date of effective payment;
- 5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 5,000 as from 1 December 2024 until the
date of effective payment;
- 5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 51,136.88 as from 31 December 2024 until
the date of effective payment;
- 5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 7,000 as from 31 December 2024 until the
date of effective payment;
- 5% interest p.a. over the amount of SAR 7,000 as from 31 January 2025 until the
date of effective payment.
- SAR 35,000 as contractual penalty.
3.
Any further claims of the Claimant are rejected.
4.
Full payment (including all applicable interest) shall be made to the bank account indicated
in the enclosed Bank Account Registration Form.
5.
Pursuant to art. 24 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, if full payment
(including all applicable interest) is not made within 45 days of notification of this decision,
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. The maximum duration of the ban shall
be of up to three entire and consecutive registration periods.
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REF. FPSD-18202
2. The present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee
in the event that full payment (including all applicable interest) is still not made by the
end of the three entire and consecutive registration periods.
6.
The consequences shall only be enforced at the request of the Claimant in accordance
with art. 24 par. 7 and 8 and art. 25 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
7.
This decision is rendered without costs.
For the Football Tribunal:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
pg. 13
REF. FPSD-18202
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
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396 Alhambra Circle, 6th floor, Coral Gables, Miami, Florida, USA 33134
legal.fifa.com | [email protected] | T: +41 (0)43 222 7777
pg. 14