Training Compensation
Texto da decisão
TMS 8529
Decision of the Single Judge of the
sub-committee of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 16 August 2021,
regarding training compensation for the player Yunusa Owolabi Muritala
BY:
Johan van Gaalen (South Africa), Single Judge of the sub-committee of the
DRC
CLAIMANT:
36 Lions FC Lagos, Nigeria
RESPONDENT:
K.V.C. WESTERLO, Belgium
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TMS 8529
I. FACTS OF THE CASE
Player:
Yunusa Owolabi MURITALA
Date of birth:
2 April 2000
Player passport:
- issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on 11 April 2019
Season
2015
2016
2016
2017
2018
Birthday
15th
16th
16th
17th
18th
Club(s)
36 Lions FC
36 Lions FC
Dominion Hotspur FC
Dominion Hotspur FC
Dominion Hotspur FC
Registration dates
01/01/2015 – 31/12/2015
01/01/2016 – 30/10/2016
01/11/2016 – 31/12/2016
01/01/2017 - 31/12/2017
01/01/2018 - 25/09/2018
Status
Amateur
Amateur
Amateur
Amateur
Amateur
- issued by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) on 14 February 2020 (available in the relevant transfer
instruction in the Transfer Matching System (TMS))
Season
20182019
20192020
20192020
Birthday
18th
Club(s)
Göztepe A.S.
Registration dates
28/09/2018 – 30/06/2019
19th
Göztepe A.S.
01/07/2019 – 30/01/2020
19th
KVC Westerlo (Belgium)
31/01/2020 - onwards
Status
Amateur
(Permanent)
Amateur
(Permanent)
Professional
(Permanent)
Sporting season:
1 January to 31 December (Nigeria)
Date of transfer:
27 February 2020, from Goztepe AS (Turkey) to K.V.C. Westerlo (Belgium) as a
professional (free agent)
Claimant club:
36 Lions FC Lagos (Nigeria)
Respondent club:
K.V.C. Westerlo (Belgium)
UEFA, category II (EUR 60,000 per year)
Claim and Response:
1.
On 21 June 2021, the Claimant requested EUR 120,000 as training compensation “plus interest
at 5% rate since the overdue date until effective payment”. The Claimant is basing its claim on
the first registration of the player as a professional with the Respondent in February 2020.
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TMS 8529
2.
The Claimant submitted inter alia the aforementioned player passports issued by the NFF and
the TFF as well as other documentation referring to the player’s registration with the Claimant
(i.e. the “2016 Player’s Licence” within the NFF) and with the Respondent (i.e. extracts of the
website www.transfermarkt.com referring to the player’s transfer history and the Respondent’s
data).
3.
In its calculation, the Claimant took into consideration the amount set for category II clubs in
UEFA, i.e. EUR 60,000 per year and multiplied by the period of time the player was registered
with the Claimant, that is to say during the entire 2015 and 2016 sporting seasons.
4.
On 28 June 2021, the FIFA administration submitted a proposal to the parties, informing them
that it was of the opinion that the Respondent should pay the amount of EUR 109,972.60 to
the Claimant, plus 5% interest per annum as from 29 March 2020 until the date of effective
payment.
5.
The Claimant accepted the proposal.
6.
On 13 July 2021, the Respondent rejected the proposal by arguing that it “cannot agree to the
requested training compensation”.
II. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Applicable law:
Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP): January 2020 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 claim of the Claimant is based on the first registration of the player as a professional with
the Respondent.
2.
The Respondent contested the requested training compensation arguing that it could not agree
with it.
3.
It is uncontested that the seasons of the player’s 15th and 16th birthday in Nigeria started each
on 1 January and ended on 31 December.
4.
Equally, it is undisputed that the player was registered with the Claimant during the entire season
of his 15th birthday and during 304 days of the season of the player’s 16th birthday, i.e. as from
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TMS 8529
1 January 2015 until 30 October 2016. In addition, the player was registered as an amateur with
its various clubs up until registering with the Respondent, as a professional.
5.
Consequently, the Respondent did not pay to the Claimant the training compensation due as a
result of the first registration of the player as a professional with the Respondent.
6.
In accordance with art. 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP, on registering a player as a professional
for the first time, the club with which the player is registered is responsible for paying training
compensation within 30 days of the registration to every club with which the player has
previously been registered (in accordance with the players’ career history as provided in the
player passport).
7.
In accordance with art. 5 par. 2 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP, the first time a player registered as a
professional, the training compensation payable by the new club to the training club(s) of the
player is calculated by taking the training costs of the new club multiplied by the number of
years with the training club(s).
8.
In line with art. 5 par. 2 and 3 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP the training costs for players for the
seasons between their 12th and 15th birthdays (i.e. four seasons) are based on the training and
education costs of category 4 clubs.
9.
The training costs for category IV clubs within UEFA are set at EUR 10,000 per year and at EUR
60,000 per year for category II clubs within UEFA.
10.
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.
11.
As established in point II./4. above, the player was registered with the Claimant for the entire
season of his 15th birthday and for 304 days of the season of his 16th birthday.
12.
Consequently, the Claimant is entitled to receive EUR 10,000 for the training and education
provided to the player during the course of the season of his 15th birthday and EUR 49,972.60
for the training and education provided to the player during the course of the season of his 16th
birthday.
13.
As such, the Claimant is entitled to EUR 59,972.60 as training compensation for the player’s first
registration as a professional with the Respondent.
14.
Furthermore, the Claimant requested to be awarded interest amounting to 5% per annum
“since the overdue date until effective payment”.
15.
Taking into consideration the Claimant’s claim as well as art. 3 par. 2 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP,
the Respondent has to pay, in conformity with the longstanding practice of the DRC, interest of
5% p.a. over the amount payable as training compensation as of 31 days after the registration
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TMS 8529
of the player with it, i.e. one day after the amount was due, in casu as from 29 March 2020
until the date of effective payment.
16.
In view of all the above, the claim of the Claimant is partially accepted and the Claimant is
entitled to receive EUR 59,972.60 as training compensation, plus 5% interest p.a. on that
amount, as from 29 March 2020 until the date of effective payment.
17.
Art. 18 par. 1 of the Procedural Rules stipulates that costs in the maximum amount of CHF
25,000 are levied in connection with proceedings before the DRC relating to disputes regarding
training compensation and the solidarity mechanism. Costs are to be borne in consideration of
the parties’ degree of success in the proceedings. In special circumstances, the costs may be
assumed by FIFA.
18.
Taking into consideration the claimed amount in the matter at stake, procedural costs levied in
this respect shall not exceed CHF 15,000 (art. 1 of Annexe A of the Procedural Rules).
19.
Taking into account that the Respondent did not put forward any valid reason for not paying
training compensation and that the claim is partially accepted, the amount of CHF 10,000 has
to be paid as procedural costs by the parties, as follows:
a. The amount of CHF 2,000 shall be paid by the Claimant;
b. The amount of CHF 8,000 shall be paid by the Respondent
20.
The relevant provisions of art. 24bis RSTP are applicable to the present matter.
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TMS 8529
III. DECISION
1. The claim of the Claimant, 36 Lions FC Lagos, is partially accepted.
2. The Respondent, K.V.C. Westerlo, has to pay to the Claimant EUR 59,972.60 as training
compensation, plus 5% interest p.a. on that amount, as from 29 March 2020 until the date of
effective payment.
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.
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).
6.
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.
7.
The final costs of the proceedings in the amount of CHF 10,000 are to be paid as follows:
a. The amount of CHF 2,000 shall be paid by the Claimant;
b. The amount of CHF 8,000 shall be paid by the Respondent;
c. The above costs shall be paid to FIFA with reference to case no. TMS 8529 (cf. note relating to
the payment of the procedural costs below)
For the Single Judge of the sub-committee of the DRC:
Emilio García Silvero
Chief Legal & Compliance Officer
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TMS 8529
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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