European Club Association (ECA), representing over 700 professional football clubs across Europe, takes note of the judgement issued today by the CJEU in the case concerning Lassana Diarra (“the Judgement”).

ECA acknowledges that the Judgement concluded that certain provisions of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (“RSTP”), whose aim are to ensure competition and contractual stability, appear to run counter to EU law, with the final decision now to be taken by the national court in Belgium.

Whilst the Judgement raises certain concerns, ECA observes that the provisions analysed by the CJEU relate to specific aspects of the FIFA RSTP, with the football player transfer system being built on the back of the entire regulatory framework set out in the FIFA RSTP which by and large remains valid.

Importantly, the CJEU did recognise the legitimacy of rules aiming at protecting the integrity and stability of competitions and the stability of squads, and rules which aim to support such legitimate objectives, including, among others, the existence of registration windows, the principle that compensation is payable by anyone who breaches an employment contract and the imposition of sporting sanctions on parties that breach those contracts.

The football transfer system is designed to establish a balance between the rights of players to free movement and stability of contracts, together with the legitimate objectives of the integrity and stability of squads and competitions. ECA believes that this system functions well, on the whole, and succeeds in finding this necessary balance.

Crucially, the transfer system affords medium and smaller sized clubs the means to continue to compete at high levels of football, especially those who are able to develop and train players successfully. The transfer system as a whole, and transfer fees and solidarity mechanism more specifically, are an efficient and effective means of wealth distribution from bigger clubs to smaller ones, including a huge number of ECA’s members, in addition to the strong system of competition revenue solidarity that is in place at European level.

Over the years, ECA has worked closely with FIFA and other key actors to improve the FIFA RSTP to further enhance its ability to serve football and adapt to emerging trends.  We remain committed to pursuing this objective, even more so in light of today’s Judgement which will be further analysed together with our membership.