When John Bosman filed his lawsuit no one believed that it would change the inner workings of football. Yet, the ruling was monumental and did indeed change everything. Now, a new initiative under the name «Justice for Players» has been formed in the Netherlands, will try to do exactly the same. Shake the institutions of FIFA and UEFA regarding contracts and transfers. Should the motion be ratified in court, then everything can change in a moment shifting the balance of power from one side to the other overnight. And the question is if such a situation could be deemed as good or bad for all the links of the sporting chain, from the fans, to the professionals, to the bettors, to the top Asian and European bookmakers.
The demand is to negate the contracts
The person behind the initiative is Franco Baldini, former football, director, assistant manager and technical director of various clubs (Roma, Real Madrid, Tottenham, England). The legal services are provided by the same lawyers that made the Bosman case stick, Dupont-Hissel. The spark for the saga was the case between Lassana Diarra and FC Lokomotiv Moscow, where the club demanded a restitution of 10 million Euros to allow the player to get transferred to another club just one year after signing a 4-year contract.
And it is exactly the ruling of that case that sets the legal precedent that is now the basis for the lawsuit that «Justice for Players» has filed. The court deemed that the player did not have to pay any restitution because the relevant FIFA rules violate European Law. In an attempt to carry this decision to all footballers, the lawsuit that the initiative filed, claims that all players should be allowed to terminate a contract with a club at any point, just as it happens with all other professions. In addition, they want to claim a compensation for all players that suffered a financial damage because of the restrictive FIFA rules. According to Compass Lexecon, the amount of such compensation would come up to billions.
The lawsuit begins with the most influential
The open case (meaning that every player that has played in a club in England or the European Union can join in) is addressed against FIFA and the federations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The grounds of the accusation are that the restrictions and the strict regulations violate European Law and the basic foundation of the EU about the freedom of trade within its borders.
Most likely, this case will take years (even more than a decade) to reach its resolution with a final ruling of the court. There has already been a reaction from the clubs claiming that should this be ratified then it will only benefit the teams with the big budgets while draining the lifeline of the small and medium clubs that survive on the training compensation fees that they receive during a transfer for taking a player out of the streets and teaching them how to play professional football.
From a legal point of view
According to the legal experts of various countries, if anyone is allowed to terminate a contract at any time, then what is the use of signing one in the first place? In any profession there exist the responsibilities and rights for each party that the legislation makes provisions for. A contract is a binding agreement between 2 parties for any additional terms that are not covered by the relevant law. Essentially, having the right to terminate a contract is the same as saying that any contract is not valid at all.
In fact, the basic claim of the lawsuit that people can leave their place of work at any point, is actually false. It is only valid if no additional agreement exists. If two parties agree on a set of terms then this set is what regulates their relationship. They can discuss the terms as much as they want. If either side feels that the terms are not satisfactory then they do not sign a contract. But if they do, they have to abide by what they both agreed on.
There is the basketball solution
Nowadays, most contracts for basketball players, include a term that says that if the player gets a position in the NBA draft, or receives a proposal for a direct transfer to an NBA team, then the contract will immediately be terminated. It is not logical to be able to terminate a contract at any point without a valid and compelling reason. It is also not logical to say that players that were submitted to the previous rules are now entitled to a compensation because of these rules.
This is probably a case where the two sides will reach some sort of a compromise and settle before it is brought to the judge. In all likelihood, there will be terms added to any contract defining a new and extended set of reasons for its termination. In any case we will wait and see as this will go far into the future and will not affect the sport or the betting possibilities that people get when the decide to open an account at the best betting software.
