Labour Disputes
Texto da decisão
REF. FPSD-14309
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 22 August 2024
regarding an employment-related dispute concerning the player Leonie
Multari
COMPOSITION:
Frans DE WEGER (The Netherlands), Chairperson
Khadija TIMERA (Senegal), Member
Oleg ZADUBROVSKIY (Russia), Member
CLAIMANT:
Leonie Multari, France
Represented by Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP)
RESPONDENT:
CHIEVO VERONA WOMEN FM, Italy
pg. 2
REF. FPSD-14309
I. Facts of the case
1.
The parties to the dispute are:
-
The French player, Leonie Multari (hereinafter: the Player or the Claimant).
-
The Italian club, Chievo Verona Women FM (hereinafter: the Club or the
Respondent).
2.
In June 2023, the Club contacted the Player through her agent to engage her as a
professional football player.
3.
On 19 June 2023, the Club made a first offer to the Player.
4.
On 20 June 2023, after some modifications, the Club sent a second offer to the Player, which
was then signed by her (hereinafter: the Offer).
5.
In accordance with the Offer, the Player was expected to receive a monthly salary of EUR
1,700 for 10 months of the 2023/2024 season.
6.
The Offer contained the signature of the Player, however it did not contain the Club’s
signature.
7.
On 25 July 2023, the Club announced the Player's recruitment on its social media platforms.
8.
On 31 July 2023, the Player arrived in Italy.
9.
According to the Player, on 31 July 2023, she signed an employment contract with the Club.
No copy of such contract was provided.
10. Between 1 and 3 August 2023, the Club informed the Player via group message in
WhatsApp about the number she would use and provided information regarding the
medical appointments. Moreover, on 3 August 2023, the Club stated “bon début
d'entraînement” (freely translated into English: “good training’ start”).
11. On 13 August 2023, a player named “Laura” had the following conversation with a person
called Alessandro, in accordance with the Player a Club’s representative:
“Alessandro : Bonjour Laura, peux-tu venir au centre sportif à 10h ?
Laura : Bonjour Alessandro, pour quelles raisons ?
Alessandro : Simone et moi voulions te parler
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REF. FPSD-14309
Laura : Parler de quoi ? Nous avons tout dit la dernière fois
Alessandro : En parlant, on peut toujours comprendre les points de vue de
chacun
Alessandro : Et peut-être trouver un point d’accord
Laura : Tu sais déjà tout, c’était l’accord initial ou rien. Donc nous n’avons rien
à dire”
Freely translated into English:
"Alessandro: Hi Laura, can you come to the sports center at 10am?
Laura: Hi Alessandro, what's the reason?
Alessandro: Simone and I wanted to talk to you.
Laura: Talk about what? We said it all last time
Alessandro: By talking, we can always understand each other's points of view.
Alessandro: And maybe find a point of agreement.
Laura: You already know everything, it was the initial agreement or nothing.
So we have nothing to say.”
12. As per the FIFA Transfer Matching System (hereinafter: TMS), the women’s professional
2023/2024 football season in Italy started on 1 July 2023 and ended on 30 June 2024.
II. Proceedings before FIFA
13. On 4 April 2024, the Claimant filed the claim at hand before FIFA. A brief summary of the
parties’ position is set out below.
a. Position of the Claimant
14. The Claimant requested outstanding remuneration and compensation for breach of
contract.
15. In her claim, the Player argued that she concluded an employment contract with the Club
with the same terms of the Offer. However, she mentioned that the Club refused to provide
her a copy of such document.
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REF. FPSD-14309
16. The Player also indicated that following the signature of the alleged contract and the
communications via the application WhatsApp; the Club requested her to modify the terms
of the contract, specifically to reduce her salary, which she did not agree to; and therefore,
the Club requested her to leave. Consequently, the Claimant considered that the Club
unilaterally terminated their employment relationship.
17. The Player also mentioned that the existence of the contractual relationship was
materialised as she (i) accepted the Club’s offer, (ii) arrived at the Club’s premises, (iii)
signed the alleged contract, (iv) received various communications via the application
WhatsApp, and (v) participated in different training sessions.
18. In light of the foregoing, the Player requested the following relief:
-
EUR 1,700 net as outstanding remuneration (August salary) plus 5% interest as
from 1 September 2023.
-
EUR 15,300 net as compensation for breach of contract plus 5% interest as from
13 August 2023.
-
EUR 3,000 as legal fees.
b. Position of the Respondent
19. The Respondent failed to provide its position to the claim within the time limit granted by
the FIFA general secretariat.
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REF. FPSD-14309
III. Considerations of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
a. Competence and applicable legal framework
20. 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 April 2024 and submitted for decision on 22
August 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.
21. 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 French player and
an Italian club.
22. 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 April 2024, the February 2024 edition
of said regulations (hereinafter: the Regulations) is applicable to the matter at hand as to
the substance.
b. Burden of proof
23. 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 TMS.
c. Merits of the dispute
24. 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
the facts, arguments and documentary evidence, which it considered pertinent for
assessing the matter at hand.
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REF. FPSD-14309
i. Main legal discussion and considerations
25. The Chamber then moved to the substance of the matter and took note of the fact that this
is a claim of a Player against a Club concerning an alleged termination of their employment
relationship.
26. The Chamber started by recalling the arguments of the Claimant, who asserted that the
parties had entered into a valid and biding contract, which the Club prematurely
terminated without just cause on 13 August 2023.
27. Equally, the Chamber observed that the Respondent failed to present its reply to the claim
of the Claimant, and therefore its decision would be made on the basis of the
documentation on file, that is, the argumentation and evidence filed by the Claimant, in
line with article 14 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules.
28. Consequently, the Chamber considered that its task was to determine whether the parties
had a proper employment relationship; and, if so, the consequences of its early
termination.
29. Having established the above, the Chamber first recalled that the established case law of
the DRC dictates that, in order for an employment contract to be considered valid and
binding, in addition to the consent of the employer and the employee, it must contain the
essential elements (essentialia negotii) of an employment contract, i.e., the parties to the
contract and their function, the duration of the employment relationship and the
remuneration to be paid by the employer to the employee.
30. In this regard, the Chamber observed that the Claimant argued that a contract was signed,
a copy of such contract was not provided by the Club and that this contract contained the
same information as the Offer.
31. To this point, the Chamber remarked that, although the Offer mentioned a salary of EUR
1,700, it did not establish the starting date of the employment relationship. Moreover, the
exact terms of the alleged contract were also not specified by the Player in her claim and,
in any event, if a contract had in fact been signed then it would supersede the Offer and
impact its term.
32. In view of the foregoing, the Chamber deemed that, even if the parties had concluded a
contract, it was not able to determine what were the exact conditions/terms of the parties’
agreement. In other words, the DRC considered that any assessment in this regard would
be speculative, in the absence of any conclusive argument, let alone documentation, on
the file.
33. Furthermore, the Chamber observed that the only evidence submitted by the Player (i.e.,
the WhatsApp communications between the a person named Laura and the Club), only
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REF. FPSD-14309
shows that the Respondent attempted to reach an unsuccessful agreement with this
person (and not with the Player). However, the Chamber could not find any link between
Laura’s refusal to settle with the Club and the Player’s departure from the Club's premises.
Moreover, the Chamber found it essential that, since these WhatsApp communications, the
Player had not contacted the Club to either request the performance of the contract or
confirm its termination.
34. In this context, the Chamber concluded that: (i) in the absence of a clear starting date, the
alleged contract (or the Offer) could not be properly executed by the parties, who also
showed no interest in securing their relationship; and, in any event, (ii) the Player did not
meet her burden of proving that this alleged contract was unilaterally terminated by the
Club in a manner that would trigger the severe consequences of an employment
relationship.
35. Having stated the above, the Chamber rejected the claim of the Claimant.
d. Costs
36. 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.
37. 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.
38. Lastly, the DRC concluded its deliberations by rejecting any other requests for relief made
by any of the parties.
pg. 8
REF. FPSD-14309
IV. Decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Leonie Multari, 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-14309
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
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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