FIFA transfer rules breach EU law: FIFA v the player ‘BZ’

All the way back in 2014, Lassana Diarra's contract with Lokomotiv Moscow was terminated by the club amid accusations of breach of contract. The dispute now before the court in Belgium arose when in 2015 Diarra tried to sign for Charleroi, but FIFA would not guarantee that the Belgian club would not face a financial or regulatory penalty, or that an international transfer certificate would be issued, so the move collapsed. Diarra brought legal action against FIFA and the Belgian league for loss of earnings.

The rules in question concerning a player leaving a club "without just cause" are said by the CJEU "to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club, established in the territory of another Member State of the European Union".

"The rules at issue have as their object the restriction, and even prevention, of cross-border competition which could be pursued by all clubs established in the European Union, by unilaterally recruiting players under contract with another club or players about whom it is alleged that the employment contract was terminated without just cause."

The case will now be sent back to the appeal court in Belgium (that had asked the CJEU for an opinion on this technicality) to decide Diarra's damages claim.

FIFA said: "The ruling only puts in question two paragraphs of two articles of the Fifa regulations on the status and transfer of players, which the national court is now invited to consider"

FIFA will now need to amend its regulations to comply with EU law. The ramifications of the Diarra decision could change the landscape of European football at all levels as we know it, similar to the infamous Bosman decision in 1995.