Training Compensation
Texto da decisão
TMS 10014
Decision of the
Dispute Resolution Chamber
passed on 2 June 2022
regarding training compensation in relation with the registration of the player Nuno Henrique PINA
NUNES
BY:
Frans De Weger (Netherlands), Chairperson of the Dispute Resolution Chamber of
the Football Tribunal
CLAIMANT:
CF OS BELENENSES FUTEBOL SAD, Portugal
RESPONDENT:
CF FUENLABRADA, Spain
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TMS 10014
I. FACTS OF THE CASE
Player:
Nuno Henrique PINA NUNES
Date of birth:
31 March 1999
Player passport(s):
(1) issued by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) on 3 February 2020
Season Birthday Club(s)
18/19
20th
GENOA CRICKET AND
F.C.SPA
CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.
19/20
21st
Registration dates
21/08/18 – 30/01/19
31/01/19 – 30/06/19
CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.
01/07/19 – 02/02/20
Status
Professional
(permanent)
Professional
(permanent)
Professional
(permanent)
(2) issued by the Federação Portuguesa de Futebol (FPF) at an unknown date –
relevant abstract below
Season Birthday Club(s)
19/20
21st
B Sad (i.e. CF Os
Belenenses Futebol SAD)
Registration dates
03/02/20 – 30/06/20
20/21
22nd
B Sad (i.e. CF Os
Belenenses Futebol SAD)
01/07/20 – 15/09/20
21/22
23rd
B Sad (i.e. CF Os
Belenenses Futebol SAD)
09/07/21
Status
Professional (on loan
from CHIEVO VERONA
S.R.L.)
Professional (on loan
from CHIEVO VERONA
S.R.L.)
(3) issued by the Swiss Football Association (SVF) on 9 July 2021 – relevant abstract
below
Year Birthday Club(s)
20/21
22nd
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Registration dates
16/09/20 – 09/07/21
Status
Professional (on loan
from CHIEVO VERONA
S.R.L.)
Transfers (as per the information available in TMS):
(1) 3 February 2020, from CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. (Italy) to CF Os Belenenses
Futebol SAD (Portugal) as a professional (on loan)
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TMS 10014
The player and CF Os Belenenses Futebol SAD signed an employment
agreement valid as from 30 January 2020 until 30 June 2021.
It is indicated in TMS that the player’s contract with CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. was
valid until 30 June 2022
(2) 16 September 2020, from CF Os Belenenses Futebol SAD (Portugal) to
Grasshopper Club Zürich (Switzerland) as a professional (on a sub-loan from
CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L., by way of an agreement between the 3 clubs and the
player)
In this respect, the player, CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L, CF Os Belenenses Futebol
SAD and Grasshopper Club Zürich signed an agreement on 11 September 2020
according to which:
-
The player’s contract with CF Os Belenenses Futebol SAD is suspended until
30 June 2021;
CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. agrees to loan the player from CF Os Belenenses
Futebol SAD to Grasshopper Club Zürich;
The SVF returned the ITC of the player to the FPF on 9 July 2021
(3) 26 August 2021, from CF Os Belenenses Futebol SAD (Portugal) to CF
Fuenlabrada (Spain) as a professional (out of contract)
Claimant club:
CF Os Belenenses Futebol SAD (Portugal)
UEFA, category II (EUR 60,000 per year)
Respondent club:
CF Fuenlabrada (Spain)
UEFA, category II (EUR 60,000 per year)
Claim and Response:
1.
On 3 March 2022, the Claimant requested EUR 36.986,30 as training compensation plus 5% interest
p.a. “as of the due date until the date of effective payment.”
2.
The Claimant is basing its claim on the jurisprudence developed by the DRC according to which a club
which had the player on loan from its parent club is in principle entitled to claim training
compensation from the player’s next club should the player be registered permanently as a
professional.
3.
In fact, the Claimant indicated that the player had been registered with it as from 3 February 2020
until 15 September 2020, during the year of his 21st birthday, on loan from CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.
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TMS 10014
4.
The Claimant indicated that the player was sub-loaned by CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. to Grasshopper
Club Zürich via the Claimant on 16 September 2020, and that therefore the player’s ITC was moved
from the FPF, where the player was last registered, to the SVF. In this respect, the TMS Manager of
the FPF stated by email on 24 November 2021 that:
a. “The player was registered with “Os Belenenses”, SAD from 03-02-2020 to 30-06-2021”;
b. “The mother club of the player was AC Chievo Verona. This club stop taking part in
competitions and for this reason we have to send the ITC to Spain (nor Italy nor Switzerland
were in position to send the ITC).”
5.
On 25 March 2022, the Respondent rejected the claim of the Claimant.
6.
The Respondent pointed out that CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. did not cease to exist, but rather stopped
competing in professional competitions, as per the information displayed in TMS in the club’s profile.
7.
The Respondent argued that as such, the player could have registered again with CHIEVO VERONA
S.R.L. at the end of his loan with Grasshopper Club Zürich, instead of re-registering with the FPF, a
situation that the Respondent deemed “abnormal”. Equally, the Respondent stated that “this fact
does not legitimise Os Belenenses S.A.D., to subrogate itself to the position of the defunct Italian Club,
as it contradicts the nature and the regulatory provisions of FIFA in terms of training compensation.”
8.
The Respondent is of the opinion that the Claimant is basing the present claim on a “fraudulent”
registration of 1 day, on 9 July 2021, and alleged that the said registration of the player with CF Os
Belenenses Futebol SAD on 9 July 2021 constituted a bridge transfer in the sense of art. 5bis RSTP,
since the Claimant “seeks to collect training rights to which it is not entitled.”
9.
The Respondent concluded that the Claimant was not the former club in the sense of Annexe 4 RSTP,
and that it is attempting to obtain training compensation based on the entitlement of the defunct
club CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.
10.
In the alternative, should the DRC consider that the said one day registration with the Claimant was
valid, the Respondent underlined that the Claimant did not meet the contact offer requirements of
art. 6 par. 3 of Annexe 4 RSTP, and therefore shall not be entitled to training compensation.
11.
Finally, should training compensation be considered due, the Respondent argued that is shall be
limited to EUR 162, for the registration of the player with the Claimant on 9 July 2021.
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TMS 10014
II. LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
Applicable law:
Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP): August 2021 edition
Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal (Procedural Rules): October 2021
edition
Decision:
1.
The claim of the Claimant is based on the subsequent registration of the player as professional with
the Respondent.
2.
The Respondent held that no training compensation was due to the Claimant since it was not the
former club in the sense of the RSTP.
3.
In fact, the Respondent is of the opinion that the Claimant is basing its claim on the alleged one-day
registration of the player with the Claimant on 9 July 2021, upon returning from the player’s sub loan
to Grasshopper Club Zürich, and believes that this registration is fraudulent and constitutes a bridge
transfer.
4.
As per the information available in TMS, the player:
a. Was loaned from CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. to the Claimant on 3 February 2020, and signed
an employment contract with the Claimant valid as from 30 January 2020 until 30 June
2021;
b. Was sub loaned by CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. to Grasshopper Club Zürich on 16 September
2020, and on 11 September 2020 (1) suspended his contract with the Claimant and (2)
signed a contract with Grasshopper Club Zürich valid as from 11 September 2020 until 30
June 2021;
c. Transferred from the Claimant to the Respondent 26 August 2021, where he registered as
an out of contract professional player.
5.
It is undisputed that CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. ceased to participate in professional competitions in Italy
at the end of season 2020/2021. The FIGC 2020/2021 season ended on 30 June 2021. The club is no
longer an active TMS user.
6.
It therefore appears that the player was, at the end of the sub loan to Grasshopper Club Zürich on 1
July 2021, out of contract because:
a. The contract it had with the Claimant, which had been suspended since 11 September
2020, was valid until 30 June 2021;
b. The contract it had with Grasshopper Club Zürich expired on 30 June 2021;
c. The contract it had with CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. was apparently terminated at the end of
season 2020/2021, when the club ceased to participate in professional competitions
affiliated to the FIGC.
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TMS 10014
7.
In any case, the Respondent indicated itself in TMS that when registering the player on 26 August
2021, the said player was a free agent.
8.
The fact that the player’s ITC was returned from the SVF to the FPF at the end of the sub loan does
not constitute per se a new registration of the player with the Claimant, as indicated in the FPF player
passport. In fact, and as confirmed by the FPF, the player was registered with the Claimant as from 3
February 2020 until 15 September 2020 only.
9.
The return of the player’s ITC to the FPF and the impossibility of the FPF to return the said ITC to the
FIGC, since the club was no longer an active TMS user, appears justified and in good faith.
10.
Equally, the indication that the player was “registered” for 1 day with the Claimant on 6 July 2021
seems to indicate the date the ITC was returned by the SVF to the FPF rather than an effective
registration.
11.
Based on the above, it is determined that the player was registered with the Claimant as from 3
February 2020 until 15 September 2020, that is to say 225 days of the year of his 21 st birthday, on
loan from CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.
12.
It is undisputed that the player subsequently registered with the Respondent as a professional on 26
August 2021, i.e. during the course of the calendar year of the player’s 22nd birthday, as an out of
contract player.
13.
As such, training compensation is due.
14.
Art. 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 of the RSTP stipulates that in the case of subsequent transfers of the
professional, training compensation will only be owed to his former club for the time he was
effectively trained by that club.
15.
As established by the jurisprudence of the DRC, when a player registers with a club affiliated to a
different member association (i.e. the new club, in casu the Respondent) from the one where he was
previously registered (i.e. the former club, in casu CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.), any club(s) that may have
had the player on loan from the player’s former club should be entitled to claim training
compensation from the new club (in casu the Claimant).
16.
In particular, it is considered that any loan(s) that took place during a player’s registration with the
former club did not interrupt the chain of entitlement of training compensation. In other words, the
period starting from the player’s original registration with the former club up until his registration
with the new club constitutes one timeframe, irrelevant of any loan(s) that may have taken place
during this period.
17.
Therefore, the Respondent’s allegations regarding the fact that the Claimant cannot be considered
as the player’s former club in the sense of the RSTP are rejected. Equally, the allegations made by the
Respondent that the Claimant is attempting to claim training rewards that should in principle be due
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TMS 10014
to CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L. are unfounded. The Claimant is claiming training compensation for the
training and education it provided to the player during the year 2020, when the player was on loan
from CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.
18.
As such, the Claimant is entitled to receive training compensation for the subsequent professional
registration of the player with the Respondent.
19.
In view of all the above, it is established that training compensation is due to the Claimant for the
period the player was registered with it during the course of the calendar year of his 20h birthday,
i.e. as from 3 February 2020 until 15 September 2020, that is to say during 225 days, on loan from his
former club CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L.
20.
According to art. 3 par. 2 of Annexe 4 RSTP, the deadline for payment of training compensation is
30 days following the registration of the professional with the new association.
21.
The player registered with the Respondent on 26 August 2021.
22.
Thus, the Respondent had to pay any due training compensation by 25 September 2021.
23.
It is undisputed that to date the Respondent did not pay training compensation to the Claimant.
24.
The former club, the Claimant and the Respondent were all based inside the territory of the EU when
the player registered as a professional with the Respondent. As such, art. 6 of Annexe 4 RSTP is
applicable in the matter at hand.
25.
As per art. 5 par. 2 of Annexe 4 RSTP in combination with 3 par. 1 of Annexe 4 RSTP, in the case of
subsequent transfers, training compensation is calculated based on the training costs of the new club
multiplied by the number of years of training with the former club, or on a pro rata basis if less that
one year.
26.
What is more, art. 6 par. 1 of Annexe 4 RSTP stipulates that for players moving from one association
to another inside the territory of the EU/EEA, the amount of training compensation payable shall be
established based on the following: a) If the player moves from a lower to a higher category club, the
calculation shall be based on the average training costs of the two clubs. b) If the player moves from
a higher to a lower category, the calculation shall be based on the training costs of the lower-category
club.
27.
The Claimant and the Respondent were classified as UEFA training category II when registering the
player. The yearly amount foreseen for UEFA category II clubs is EUR 60,000, which shall be the yearly
amount taken into account in the present dispute.
28.
The Claimant is entitled to training compensation for the 225 days the player was registered with it
during the calendar year of his 21st birthday.
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TMS 10014
29.
Therefore, the Claimant shall receive training compensation in the amount of EUR 36,986.30.
30.
The argumentation of the Respondent regarding the contract offer requirements of art. 6 par. 3 of
Annexe 4 RSTP is dismissed, since said provisions only apply to the former club of the player, i.e.
CHIEVO VERONA S.R.L., without prejudice to the rights of any other training club(s).
31.
The Claimant requested the award of interest rate of 5% per annum, “as per the due date”.
32.
In this respect, the well-established jurisprudence of the DRC applies interests as from the first
overdue day for the payment of training compensation.
33.
The player was registered with the Respondent on 26 August 2021. According to art. 3 par. 2 of
Annexe 4 RSTP, training compensation was to be paid to the training club(s) 30 days after said date,
i.e. until 25 September 2021.
34.
As a result, the Claimant is entitled to receive 5% interests per annum as from the date at which
training compensation became overdue to the Claimant, that is to say as from 26 September 2021.
The interest rate of 5% per annum on EUR 36,986.30 shall apply until the date of effective payment
of the outstanding training compensation and its applicable interest.
35.
In view of all the above, the claim of the Claimant is partially accepted and the Claimant shall receive
EUR 36,986.30 as training compensation, plus 5% interest p.a. on that amount, as from 26 September
2021 until the date of effective payment.
36.
According to art. 25 par. 2 of the Procedural Rules, procedural costs are payable for disputes between
clubs regarding the payment of solidarity contribution.
37.
The Claimant claimed the amount of EUR 36,986.30.
38.
Thus, the amount claimed by the Claimant corresponds to an amount lower than USD 49,999.
39.
Therefore, procedural costs levied in this respect are fixed to USD 5,000 (cf. art. 2 of Annexe 1 to the
Procedural Rules.
40.
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.
41.
In view the specific circumstances of the case, procedural costs shall be set at USD 3,000.
42.
In view of the outcome of the claim, said costs shall be borne by the Respondent.
43.
Art. 24bis applies.
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TMS 10014
III. DECISION
1. The claim of the Claimant, CF Os Belenenses Futebol SAD, is accepted.
2. The Respondent, CF Fuenlabrada, shall pay to the Claimant EUR 36,986.30 as training compensation,
plus 5% interest p.a. on that amount, as from 26 September 2021 until the date of effective payment.
3. Full payment (including all applicable interest) shall be made to the bank account indicated in the
enclosed Bank Account Registration Form.
4. Pursuant to article 24bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players if full payment
(including all applicable interest) is not paid 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
three entire and consecutive registration periods.
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 paid by the end of the of the
three entire and consecutive registration periods.
5. The consequences shall only be enforced at the request of the Claimant.
6. The final costs of the proceedings in the amount of USD 3,000 are to be paid by the Respondent to FIFA
with reference to case no. TMS 10014 (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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TMS 10014
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 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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