Training Compensation
Texto da decisão
REF TMS 10383
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 11 June 2022
regarding solidarity contribution for the transfer of the player Obinna
Emmanuel NWOBODO
BY:
Mario Flores Chem or (Mex ico)
CLAIMANT:
Enugu Rangers FC, Nigeria
RESPONDENT:
Goztepe AS, Turkey
INTERVENING PARTY
Ujpest 1885 Kft, Hungary
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REF TMS 10383
I. FACTS OF THE CASE
Player:
Obinna Emmanuel NWOBODO
Date of birth:
29 November 1996
Player passport:
issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on 5 November 2021 – relevant
abstract below
Season
2014
Birthday
18th
2015
19th
2016
20th
2017
21st
Club(s)
Rangers
International FC
Rangers
International FC
Rangers
International FC
Rangers
International FC
Sporting season:
Registration dates
01/01/14 – 31/12/14
Status
Professional (permanent)
01/01/15 – 31/12/15
Professional (permanent)
01/01/16 – 31/12/16
Professional (permanent)
01/01/17 – 27/05/17
Professional (permanent)
1 January to 31 December (Nigeria)
Date of 1st transfer: 23 September 2020, from Ujpest 1885 Kft (Hungary) to Goztepe AS (Turkey) as
professional
Financial Conditions:
(i)
Fixed transfer fee of EUR 550,000 as follows:
- EUR 200,000 on 20 September 2020;
- EUR 175,000 on 20 September 2021; and
- EUR 175,000 on 20 September 2022.
“Parties accept and undertake that the FIFA solidarity contributions
and/or training compensations regarding the transfer of the Player are
included in transfer compensation determined herein. FIFA solidarity
contributions and/or training compensations shall be paid by UJPEST
FC. (Otherwise, GOZTEPE will pay the transfer compensation amount
after deduction of solidarity compensation)”.
(ii)
Conditional transfer fee (Sell-on fee): “If (…) GOZTEPE transfer the
registration of the player to a third club permanently, GOZTEPE is
obliged to (…) pay (…) an amount corresponding to the 15% added
value of the transfer fee [(transfer fee – 550,000 EUR)*%15]. The
calculation of the added value is the amounts received by the recipient
club for the rights of the player, exceeding the transfer compensation
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REF TMS 10383
defined in point 1.1 of this agreement. It shall be paid to UJPEST FC
within seven days after reception of the relevant transfer fees.”
Date of 2nd transfer:
21 April 2022, Goztepe AS (Turkey) to FC Cincinnati (USA)
Financial conditions: USD 1,500,000 net of solidarity on 21 April 2022.
Claimant club:
Enugu Rangers FC (Nigeria)
Respondent club:
Goztepe AS (Turkey)
Intervening party:
Ujpest 1885 Kft (Hungary)
Claim and Response:
1.
On 4 May 2022, the Claimant requested a sum of EUR 12,100 as its portion of solidarity
contribution generated by the transfer of the player from the Intervening party to the
Respondent “including 5% interest per annum from the due date for its effort in the training,
development and education of the Player from 1st January, 2014 to 27th May, 2017.”
2.
On 6 May 2022, after having been informed by the FIFA administration of the aforementioned
financial conditions of the relevant transfer, the Claimant reiterated its initial claim and requested
the amount of EUR 12,100, plus “inclusive of 5% interest per annum from the due date for its
contribution“.
3.
In particular, the Claimant submitted an extract of FC Cincinnati’s website dated 13 April 2022
and which reflected the player’s subsequent transfer from the Respondent to the US club on the
said date.
4.
Therefore, the Claimant held that it was entitled to its share of the solidarity contribution on the
first two instalments of the fixed transfer fee (EUR 200,000 on 20 September 2020 and EUR
175,000 on 20 September 2021) as well as on the sell-on fee concluded between the Intervening
party and the Respondent.
5.
In the alternative, should the sell-on fee be deemed not to have been triggered, the Claimant
requested the amount of EUR 8,250, “inclusive of 5% interest per annum from the due date for
its contribution“, on the basis of the payment of the first two instalments of the fixed transfer
fee.
6.
On 9 May 2022, the FIFA administration notified the Claimant’s claim to the Respondent and
the Intervening party.
7.
On 24 May 2022, the Intervening party indicated that it did not agree with the Claimant’s
calculations on the due solidarity contribution because only two out of the three instalments of
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REF TMS 10383
the fixed transfer fee were due to date and as such, no solidarity contribution was yet due on
the third instalment.
8.
In particular, the Intervening party held that the latter’s entitlement to solidarity contribution
equalled to an amount of EUR 6,381, plus late payment interest of EUR 516 “for the duration
between 22.09.2020 and 06.05.2022 (1 year 7 months and 14 days until the submission of FC
Internazionale Enugu’s last statement of claim (6 May 2022)”.
9.
In addition, the Intervening party held that no solidarity contribution was due on the sell-on fee
because it was not triggered.
10.
For its parts, the Respondent did not provide its comments to the claim despite having been
invited to do so.
II. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Applicable law:
Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP): August 2020 edition
Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal (Procedural Rules): October
2021 edition
Jurisdiction:
yes, uncontested.
Admissible:
yes, uncontested.
Decision:
1.
The Claimant requested the payment of solidarity contribution resulting from the transfer of the
player from the Intervening party to the Respondent.
2.
After having been informed by the FIFA administration of the financial conditions of the relevant
transfer, the Claimant requested the payment of EUR 12,100, corresponding to its portion of
the solidarity contribution in respect of the first two installments of the fixed transfer fee (i.e.
total of EUR 375,000) and of the sell-on fee, plus 5% interest p.a. as of the due dates until the
date of effective payment.
3.
The Respondent did not provide its comments in respect of the present claim.
4.
The Intervening party, although not contesting the entitlement of the Claimant to receive
solidarity contribution, indicated that in its opinion, the Claimant’s entitlement amounted to EUR
6,381, plus late payment interest of EUR 516, corresponding only to its share of solidarity
contribution on the first and the second installment of the transfer fee of relevance.
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REF TMS 10383
5.
Art. 1 par. 1 of Annexe 5 of the RSTP stipulates that if a professional moves during the course
of a contract, 5% of any compensation, not including training compensation paid to his former
club, shall be deducted from the total amount of this compensation and distributed by the new
club as a solidarity contribution to the club(s) involved in his training and education over the
years. This solidarity contribution reflects the number of years (calculated pro rata if less than
one year) he was registered with the relevant club(s) between the seasons of his 12th and 23rd
birthdays
6.
It is uncontested that, in the NFF player passport of 5 November 2021, the player was registered
with the Claimant as from 1 January 2014 until 27 May 2017, i.e.:
a.
b.
c.
d.
7.
The entire season of the player’s 18th birthday;
The entire season of the player’s 19th birthday;
The entire season of the player’s 20th birthday; and
147 days of the season of the player’s 21st birthday.
Based on the above, the Claimant shall be entitled to receive 34.03% of any solidarity
contribution generated by the transfer of the player, corresponding to:
a. 10% of any due solidarity contribution for the training education provided to the player
during the entire season of his 18th birthday;
b. 10% of any due solidarity contribution for the training education provided to the player
during the entire season of the player’s 19th birthday;
c. 10% of any due solidarity contribution for the training education provided to the player
during the entire season of the player’s 20th birthday; and
d. 4.03% of any due solidarity contribution for the training education provided to the player
during the 147 days of the season of his 21st birthday.
8.
Art. 1 par. 1 of Annexe 5 of the RSTP foresees that 5% of any compensation paid by the new
club to the former club shall be deducted and distributed by the new club as solidarity
contribution.
9.
In accordance with art. 2 par. 1 of Annexe 5 of the RSTP, the new club of a player shall pay the
solidarity contribution to the training club(s) no later than 30 days after the player’s registration
or, in case of contingent payments, 30 days after the date of such payments.
10.
It is uncontested that, to date, the new club, i.e. the Respondent, paid to the former club, i.e.
the Intervening party, a transfer fee of EUR 375,000, respectively EUR 200,000 on 20 September
2020 and EUR 175,000 on 20 September 2021. The third installment, i.e. EUR 175,000, is only
due on 20 September 2022.
11.
Consequently, the amount to be taken into account in respect of the fixed transfer fee is EUR
375,000.
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REF TMS 10383
12.
In addition, the Claimant held that it was also entitled to solidarity contribution on the sell-on
fee.
13.
The Intervening party held that the sell-on fee was not triggered in the matter at stake.
14.
According to the transfer agreement of relevance, the Respondent committed to pay to the
Intervening club an amount corresponding to the 15% added value of the transfer fee, within
seven days after reception of the relevant fees, should it sell the player to a third club.
15.
Art. 13 par. 4 of the Procedural rules indicates that a chamber may consider and rely on any
evidence not presented by the parties, including without limitation the evidence generated by
or within TMS.
16.
According to the information available in TMS, the Respondent and the US club FC Cincinnati
agreed to transfer the player against the payment of USD 1,500,000 net of solidarity on 21 April
2022.
17.
As such, taking into account that to date the amount of USD 1,500,000 corresponds to approx.
EUR 1,420,215, the added value in accordance with the sell-on fee equals to EUR 870,215 (EUR
1,420,215 – EUR 550,000).
18.
Therefore, in accordance with the sell-on fee, the amount of EUR 130,532 (EUR 870,215 x 15%),
payable by the Respondent to the Intervening party became due on 28 April 2022, i.e. seven
days after reception of the relevant fees, and the argument of the Intervening party shall not be
withheld.
19.
Therefore, the total solidarity contribution generated by the transfer of the player from the
Intervening party to the Respondent corresponds to 5% of EUR 505,532 (EUR 375,000 + EUR
130,532), i.e. EUR 25,276.60.
20.
The Claimant is entitled to receive 34.03% of the solidarity contribution.
21.
Therefore, the Claimant is entitled to EUR 8,601.63.
22.
As established above, in accordance with art. 2 par. 1 of Annexe 5 RSTP, the new club of a player
shall pay the solidarity contribution to the training club(s) no later than 30 days after the player’s
registration or, in case of contingent payments, 30 days after the date of such payments.
23.
It is uncontested that the Respondent did not pay any of the due solidarity contribution to the
Claimant.
24.
Based on the above, the Respondent shall pay the Claimant solidarity contribution of EUR
8,601.63.
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25.
In addition, taking into consideration the Claimant’s claim as well as the well-established
jurisprudence of the DRC with regard to interest, the Claimant is entitled to receive interest of
5% p.a. over the amount payable as solidarity contribution as of the 31st day after the date set
for the payment of the transfer fee and the sell-on fee of reference until the date of effective
payment, as follows:
- on the amount of EUR 3,403 as from 21 October 2020;
- on the amount of EUR 2,977.63 as from 21 October 2011; and
- on the amount of EUR 2,221 as from 29 May 2022.
26.
The Respondent did not contest being the party liable to pay solidarity contribution to the
Claimant in view of the content of the agreement. The Intervening party did not acknowledge
nor contest being the party liable to pay the Claimant’s share of solidarity contribution.
27.
As such, and in line art. 1 and 2 of Annexe 5 of the RSTP according to which the player’s new
club is ordered to remit the relevant proportion(s) of the 5% solidarity contribution to the club(s)
involved in the player’s training, a potential reimbursement by the former club, i.e. the
Intervening party, to the new club, i.e. the Respondent, cannot be discussed.
28.
Bearing all the above in mind, it is established that the Respondent, i.e. the new club, shall pay
the Claimant solidarity contribution of EUR 8,601.63, plus 5% interest p.a. as of the due dates
until the date of effective payment as established above.
29.
Consequently, the claim of the Claimant is partially accepted.
30.
According to art. 25 par. 2 of the Procedural Rules, procedural costs are payable for disputes
between clubs regarding the payment of training rewards.
31.
The Claimant claimed the amount of EUR 12,100.
32.
Thus, the amount claimed by the Claimant corresponds to an amount lower than USD 49,999.
Therefore, procedural costs levied in this respect are fixed at a maximum of USD 5,000 (cf. art.
2 of Annexe 1 to the Procedural Rules).
33.
According to art. 25 par. 5 of the Procedural Rules, the chamber will decide the amount that
each party is due to pay, in consideration of the parties’ degree of success and their conduct
during the procedure, as well as any advance of costs paid. In exceptional circumstances, the
chamber may order that FIFA assumes all procedural costs.
34.
In view the specific circumstances of the case, procedural costs shall be set at USD 1,300.
35.
In view of the outcome of the claim and the conduct of the parties, said costs shall be borne by
the Respondent entirely.
36. Art. 24bis RSTP is applicable to the matter at hand.
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III.
DECISION OF THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CHAMBER
1.
The claim of the Claimant, Enugu Rangers FC, is partially accepted.
2.
The Respondent, Goztepe AS, shall pay to the Claimant EUR 8,601.63 as solidarity contribution,
plus 5% interest per annum until the date of effective payment as follows:
- on the amount of EUR 3,403 as from 21 October 2020;
- on the amount of EUR 2,977.63 as from 21 October 2011; and
- on the amount of EUR 2,221 as from 29 May 2022.
3.
Any further claim of the Claimant is 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 USD 1,300 are to be paid by the Respondent
to FIFA with reference to case no. TMS 10383 (cf. note relating to the payment of the procedural
costs below).
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 57 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 17 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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