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ARTICLE · 17 OCTOBER 2024

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Lassana Diarra Foils FIFA's Transfer Rules

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
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Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

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It is pretty rare for judgments of the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") regarding the freedom of movement for workers and competition rules to grab news headlines.

GlobalAntitrust/Competition Law
Graeme Thomas
Graeme Thomas
Nicholas Young
Nicholas Young
George Christodoulides
George Christodoulides

Summary

It is pretty rare for judgments of the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") regarding the freedom of movement for workers and competition rules to grab news headlines. However, the ECJ's ruling in C-650/22 ("Diarra") has certainly kick-started global debate on the restrictions inherent in football's transfer system, and whether they are compliant with wider legal requirements.

The ECJ on 4 October 2024 clarified that certain of FIFA's transfer rules which (in effect) disincentivised unilateral termination of a player's contract (by club or player) without "just cause" are incompatible with Article 45 and 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU"), that is, the rules on the freedom of movement for workers and the prohibition on anti-competitive no-poach agreements within the EU. Subject to the Belgian Court of Appeal ruling that these rules are capable of objective justification (which is unlikely in light of the ECJ's judgment),

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