Asser International Sports Law Blog

Our International Sports Law Diary
The Asser International Sports Law Centre is part of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut

Losing the UEFA Europa League on the Legal Turf: Parma FC’s bitter defeat by Giandonato Marino

6. June 2014 Antoine Duval International Sports Law Cases, International Sports Law Commentaries (0)

This year the race for UEFA Europa League places in Serie A was thrilling. In the final minutes of the last game of the season, Alessio Cerci, Torino FC striker, had the opportunity to score a penalty that would have qualified his team to the 2014-2015 edition of the UEFA Europa League. However, he missed and Parma FC qualified instead. More...

Olympic Agenda 2020: Window Dressing or New Beginning?

4. June 2014 Antoine Duval (0)

Shortly after his election as IOC President, Thomas Bach announced his intention to initiate an introspective reflection and reform cycle dubbed (probably a reference to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s publicly praised Agenda 2010) the Olympic Agenda 2020. The showdown of a year of intense brainstorming is to take place in the beginning of December 2014 during an IOC extraordinary session, in which fundamental reforms are expected. More...

The French collective agreement for professional Rugby tackled by Kelsen’s Pyramid - Guest Post by Patrick Millot

28. May 2014 Antoine Duval International Sports Law Cases, International Sports Law Commentaries (0)

Pursuant to Kelsen’s famous pyramid, the authority of norms may be ranked according to their sources: Constitution is above the Law, which is in turn superior to the Regulations, which themselves stand higher to the Collective Agreement etc…Under French labour law, this ranking can however be challenged by a “principle of favourable treatment” which allows a norm from a lower rank to validly derogate from a superior norm, if (and only if) this derogation benefits to the workers.

On 2 April 2014, the Cour de Cassation (the French Highest Civil Court) considered that these principles apply in all fields of labour law, regardless of the specificity of sport[1].  In this case, Mr. Orene Ai’i, a professional rugby player, had signed on 13 July  2007 an employment contract with the Rugby Club Toulonnais (RCT) for two sport seasons with effect on 1 July 2007. More...


UEFA may have won a battle, but it has not won the legal war over FFP

21. May 2014 Antoine Duval International Sports Law Commentaries (0)

Yesterday, the press revealed that the European Commission decided to reject the complaint filed by Jean-Louis Dupont, the former lawyer of Bosman, on behalf of a player agent Striani, against the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) Regulations. The rejection as such is not a surprise. The Commission had repeatedly expressed support of the principles underlying the UEFA FFP. While these statements were drafted vaguely and with enough heavy caveats to protect the Commission from prejudicing a proper legal assessment, the withdrawal of its support would have been politically embarrassing.

Contrary to what is now widely assumed, this decision does not entail that UEFA FFP regulations are compatible with EU Competition Law. UEFA is clearly the big victor, but the legal reality is more complicated as it looks. More...


The Nine FFP Settlement Agreements: UEFA did not go the full nine yards

19. May 2014 Oskar van Maren Blog, International Sports Law Commentaries (0)

The UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations have been implemented by UEFA since the season 2011/12 with the aim of encouraging responsible spending by clubs for the long-term benefit of football. However, the enforcement of the break-even requirement as defined in Articles 62 and 63 of the Regulations (arguably the most important rules of FFP) has only started this year. Furthermore, UEFA introduced recently amendments to the Procedural rules governing the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) allowing settlement agreements to be made between the clubs and the CFCB.  

On Friday 16 May, UEFA finally published the nine separate settlement agreements between the respective clubs and the CFCB regarding the non-compliance with the Financial Fair Play (FFP) break-even requirements. More...

Dahmane v KRC Genk: Bosman 2.0 or Storm in a Teacup?

14. May 2014 Oskar van Maren Blog, International Sports Law Cases, International Sports Law Commentaries (0)

Mohamed Dahmane is a professional football player of French-Algerian origin, who has played for a variety of European clubs, including French club US Mauberge, Belgian club RAEC Mons and Turkish club Bucaspor. However, he will mostly be remembered as the player whose legal dispute with his former club (Belgian club KRC Genk) revived the debate on football players’ labour rights.  More...

Get Up, Stand Up at the Olympics. A review of the IOC's policy towards political statements by Athletes. By Frédérique Faut

9. May 2014 Oskar van Maren Blog, International Sports Law Commentaries (0)

The Olympic Games are a universal moment of celebration of sporting excellence. But, attention is also quickly drawn to their dark side, such as environmental issues, human rights breaches and poor living conditions of people living near the Olympic sites. In comparison, however, little commentary space is devoted to the views of athletes, the people making the Olympics. This article tries to remediate this, by focussing on Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter which prevents athletes from freely expressing their (political) thoughts.  More...

Asser International Sports Law Blog | Tapping TV Money: Players' Union Scores A Goal In Brazil. By Giandonato Marino

Asser International Sports Law Blog

Our International Sports Law Diary
The Asser International Sports Law Centre is part of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut

Tapping TV Money: Players' Union Scores A Goal In Brazil. By Giandonato Marino

14. April 2014 Oskar van Maren Blog, International Sports Law Cases, International Sports Law Commentaries (0)

On March 27, 2014, a Brazilian court ruling authorized the Football Players’ Union in the State of Sao Paulo[1] to tap funds generated by TV rights agreements destined to a Brazilian Club, Comercial Futebol Clube (hereinafter “Comercial”). The Court came to this decision after Comercial did not comply with its obligation  to pay players’ salaries. It is a peculiar decision when taking into account the global problem of clubs overspending and not complying with their financial obligations.  Furthermore, it could create a precedent for future cases regarding default by professional sporting clubs.

In 2013, 19 players were victims of financial mismanagement of the football club based in Ribeirao Preto. This year, with the problem still unresolved, the 19 players once again were facing financial distress. The total sum that Comercial still owed players, which consisted of overdue salaries, social security contributions and severance pay after contract expiration, amounted to R$ 363,147.71, or €120,000.00. By means of meeting the player’s demands, Comercial had issued unredeemed cheques in order to pay part of the salaries of the Players before this year’s carnival. To receive the salaries Comercial owed, the Players’ Union filed a complaint against Comercial in front of the Labour Court of Ribeirao Preto, representing eight players who are members of the Union. It asked, inter alia, for a provisional measure that would freeze  the amount that Comercial would receive from the Football Federation of Sao Paulo and the Brazilian television network Rede Globo for the TV rights. Rede Globo is the biggest broadcasting company in Brazil and holds the rights to broadcast the main competitions in football, including the upcoming FIFA World Cup. For Comercial, this would mean not receiving up to €850,000.00 from the Football Federation of Sao Paulo for the TV rights agreement. The agreement included the broadcasting of the Campeonato Paulista, for which Comercial was to be paid in four instalments (January, February, March and April 2014). At the time of the request, three out of four instalments had already been paid. Therefore, the Players’ Union could only acquire the amount of the fourth instalment due in April 2014, equal to €210,000.00.

In accordance with the tradition of Roman Law, on which the Brazilian legal system was developed, the Court had identified the existence of both legal requirements in order to issue a provisional measure: fumus boni juris, i.e. that the claim has a reasonable prospect of success and periculum in mora, i.e. the danger that claimant's rights may be impaired by the lapse of time. Regarding the first requirement, the Court established (in accordance with Article 335 of Brazilian Civil Procedural Code[2]) that Comercial had issued cheques that afterwards could not be claimed by the players. As regards the second requirement, the Court took in consideration the fact that Comercial was relegated to the second division of the Sao Paulo State League[3] and that the players were dismissed.

As a consequence, the Court accepted the request of the Players’ Union, and ordered the Football Federation of Sao Paulo and Rede Globo to deposit the amount that was due to CFC on the Union’s bank account instead. Whether Comercial exerted its possibility to challenge this measure within five days is yet unknown.

This decision is, to our knowledge, a novel and efficient method (from the point of view of the players) to tackle the problem of unpaid salaries in the world of football. It has, therefore, also been welcomed by FIFPRO. The measure issued in this particular case is of limited importance, because it only applies to the eight players affiliated to the Players’ Union. However, the method used by the Union, ceasing the TV rights income directly, might prove very useful for players in similar situations worldwide, it ensures that, even in case of default of their employers, the contractual demands of the players can be satisfied.

2nd Labour Court of Ribeirao Preto SAPESP-Comercial F C (3).pdf (14.6KB)

[1] Sindicato de Atletas Profissionais do Estado de São Paulo, one of the five founding members of the Brazilian National Players’ Union (FENAPAF)

[2] that states the application of rules of common experience in absence of specific regulations

[3] Paulistão da Série A2

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