BERLIN, Oct 4: The football players’ union or FIFPRO has welcomed a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on football transfers, stating that the decision “will change the landscape of professional football.
The ECJ had ruled in a case involving by former French player Lassana Diarra that some transfer rules by the world governing body FIFA had hindered the free movement of players and competition between clubs, and are contrary to European Union law.
“On behalf of professional football players worldwide, FIFPRO welcomes these findings,” the union said in a statement on X.
“The ECJ has just handed down a major ruling on the regulation of the labour market in football (and, more generally, in sport), which will change the landscape of professional football.”
FIFPRO said it would comment further once it has analysed the ECJ ruling in full.
According to a separate news report, Diarra had sought compensation from FIFA and the Belgian FA in a dispute after his contract at Russia’s Lokomotiv Moscow was terminated in 2014.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said Lokomotiv had a reason to terminate the contract as it turned down Diarra’s compensation claim for unpaid wages and ordered him to pay the Russian club compensation.
Diarra said that his attempt to find a new club was hampered because under FIFA rules, a new club would be liable together with him to pay Lokomotiv.
He said that also stood in the way of a possible deal with Belgian club Charleroi as he sued FIFA and the Belgian FA for loss of earnings and damages.
–BERNAMA-dpa