A former Chelsea player under Jose Mourinho is at the centre of a European Court of Justice case that could theoretically change football forever, experts say.
The case hinges on whether the transfer fee system, through which one clubs pays another a sum for a contracted player’s services, contravenes European anti-competition and freedom of movement law.
It has been described as “Bosman 2.0” by Jean-Louis Dupont, Jean-Marc Bosman’s lawyer in the landmark 1995 case which saw players allowed to move freely between clubs after the expiry of their contracts.
According to a superb detailed analysis by Off The Pitch, who interviewed several leading experts, the case could conceivably lead to a situation in which fee-paying transfers are outlawed entirely.
The Lassana Diarra case in detail
Needless to say, the case is incredibly complex.
However, the crux of the argument heard by the European Court of Justice pertains to a series of FIFA measures that, according to the claimants, are in place to deter players from ending their contracts early.
Specifically, the case revolves around an incident involving Lassana Diarra, the retired former Chelsea midfielder who played under Mourinho between 2005 and 2007, as well as for three years at Real Madrid later in his career.
After that spell in Spain, Diarra signed a four-contract with Lokomotiv Moscow, but his deal was terminated after just one year after Diarra refused to report for training as he was unhappy with the club attempting to reduce his wage.
Diarra was eventually fined £7.6m by FIFA and handed a 15-month playing ban after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport found that Lokomotiv were justified in terminating his deal.
According to the Frenchman and his representation, his search for a new club was scuppered by FIFA rules which dictated that any who signed him would be obliged to pay compensation to the Russian club.
Diarra also asserted that FIFA regulations caused a prospective deal with Belgian club Charleroi to collapse.
As a result, he filed a lawsuit against FIFA and the Belgian federation in a Belgian court, seeking million in damages and lost earnings.
That has led to the case rising to the highest European legal body, the European Court of Justice.
The latest from the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice Advocate General Maciej Szpunar has issued his opinion on the case, and his remarks largely support Diarra’s position.
The Advocate General’s opinion is not legally binding but is almost universally followed by ECJ judges.
“FIFA rules governing contractual relations between players and clubs may prove to be contrary to the European rules on competition and freedom of movement of persons,” his statement read.
“There can be no doubt as to the restrictive nature of (FIFA transfer regulations) with regard to freedom of movement.
“These provisions are such as to discourage and dissuade clubs from hiring the player for fear of financial risk.
“The sporting sanctions faced by clubs hiring the player can effectively prevent a player from exercising his or her profession with a club located in another member state.”
Analysis: How the Diarra case could turn football upside down
Football is an outlier in terms of its rules around contract termination and transfers.
When a player moves from one club to another, the new club pays a fee to the old club as compensation for the old club losing the player before the end of their contract.
This is not the case in other industries when employees move from company to company.
If the European Court of Justice rules in favour of Diarra, it will open up a tangled web of questions with significant implications for the transfer system – as has been detailed in Off The Pitch’s excellent piece.
One centres around the subjective nature of transfer fee calculations. We take for granted the subjective nature of transfer fees, but the case could see a system in which they are more scientifically calculated ushered in.
Another question concerns the liability of the new club for paying transfer fees. If this changes, new clubs could avoid paying fees altogether.
This shift could dismantle the existing transfer market structure, as clubs would no longer be responsible for transfer fees, radically changing how players switch between teams.