Fifa rules on player transfers break EU law, says top court

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Fifa’s rules on the transfers of professional footballers break EU rules on free movement, Brussels’ top court has said, in a verdict that could disrupt the European game’s system of player sales between clubs.

The European Court of Justice’s decision comes after Lassana Diarra, a former French international player, challenged the rules in a 10-year dispute with his former club Lokomotiv Moscow. Diarra claimed his search for a new club was impeded by the rules of Fifa, football’s governing body.

The Diarra ruling is the latest in a string of ECJ judgments that have challenged the legal status quo in sport and could open the door to major changes in the multibillion-dollar transfer market that underpins professional football’s economic model, analysts said.

“The judgment has broad implications for the transfer system but also for Fifa’s governance and ability to regulate football,” said Alfonso Lamadrid, a partner at Garrigues Brussels and expert in competition law. “It’s another example of the EU courts being ready to control Fifa’s regulatory over-reach and lack of good governance.”

In 2014, Diarra left Lokomotiv Moscow before the end of his contract, leading the Russian club to file a complaint with Fifa for contract breach. After Fifa ordered Diarra to pay €10mn in damages to Lokomotiv, the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid player sued Fifa and the Belgian FA for blocking his transfer to Charleroi.

Citing the financial, legal and sporting risks for players, the court said on Friday: “The rules in question are such as to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club.”

Diarra’s lawyers said the ECJ ruling was a “total victory” for their client, and “paves the way for a modernisation of governance” in football, “in particular through collective bargaining between employees and employers”. 

His legal team was led by Jean-Louis Dupont, the lawyer who successful challenged Fifa rules in 1995 on behalf of Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman. That ECJ decision allowed players to move freely between clubs at the end of their contracts. Dupont also took on Uefa and Fifa over their handling of the breakaway European Super League. 

Yasin Patel, sports barrister at London-based Church Court Chambers, said the latest ruling could have “far-reaching consequences for the transfer system”.

“Players may now be able to move more freely to other clubs by breaking with a contract as opposed to being tied to the club and contract. In addition, buying clubs may not have to pay compensation or claims,” he said.

Global players’ union Fifpro welcomed the ruling. In a statement on X it said: “The ECJ has just handed down a major ruling on the regulation of the labour market in football . . . which will change the landscape of professional football.”

The latest ruling comes as football regulators and league operators move to tighten spending restrictions on clubs, which players’ unions have warned could in effect create a salary cap at certain levels of the game. 

Fifa said it was “satisfied that the legality of key principles of the transfer system have been reconfirmed in today’s ruling. The ruling only puts in question two paragraphs of two articles of the Ffifa Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which the national court is now invited to consider.

“Fifa will analyse the decision in co-ordination with other stakeholders before commenting further.”

In July, Fifpro and European Leagues also joined forces to make a formal complaint over footballers’ welfare, ramping up pressure on Fifa over the busy calendar of matches. They said: “Fifa’s decisions over the last years have repeatedly favoured its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players.”

At the heart of that debate is Fifa’s move to boost the Club World Cup from seven teams to 32 at the tournament in the US in 2025.