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CAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing v. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Award of 9 March 2017

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Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration 2017

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Abstract

FIFA’s ban on third-party ownership (TPO) in 2015 was met with numerous attempts to overturn it. In this context, RFC Seraing’s choice to ignore the ban and enter into a TPO contract with Doyen Sports was likely meant to trigger a FIFA sanction in order to open the way for a challenge against the ban at the CAS. Unfortunately for Seraing (and Doyen Sports), the CAS decision did not conclude that FIFA’s ban was unlawful, and instead found that it complied with both EU law and Swiss law. The award confirms CAS’s increasing disposition to engage in EU law analysis and seems to guarantee at least the short-term viability of FIFA’s TPO ban. Nonetheless, it is unlikely to suffice to put the question of the ban’s legality to rest, as only a decision by the CJEU could provide such legal certainty.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Duval (2015).

  2. 2.

    CAS 98/200, AEK Athens and SK Slavia Prague v. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Award of 20 August 1999.

  3. 3.

    For a critical overview of this question, see Duval (2015).

  4. 4.

    CJEU, C-415/93, Union royale belge des sociétés de football association ASBL v. Jean-Marc Bosman, Royal club liégeois SA v. Jean-Marc Bosman and others and Union des associations européennes de football (UEFA) v. Jean-Marc Bosman, ECLI:EU:C:1995:463.

  5. 5.

    CJEU, C-519/04, David Meca-Medina and Igor Majcen v. Commission of the European Communities, ECLI:EU:C:2006:492.

  6. 6.

    Oberlandesgericht Bremen, 2 U 67/14, SV Wilhelmshaven v. Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband e.V, 30 December 2014. See my commentary, Duval (2016).

  7. 7.

    TAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing c. FIFA, Award of 9 March 2017, para. 73: “La Formation arbitrale considère que le droit de l’Union Européenne («droit de l’UE»), dont notamment les dispositions des traités en matière de liberté de circulation et de droit de la concurrence, doivent être prises en compte par la Formation arbitrale, dans la mesure où elles constituent des dispositions impératives du droit étranger au sens de l’article 19 de la Loi fédérale sur le droit international privé du 18 Décembre 1987 («LDIP»).”

  8. 8.

    This English translation is taken from CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016, para. 43. See also, with further references, Rigozzi and Hasler (2018), para. 31.

  9. 9.

    TAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing c. FIFA, Award of 9 March 2017, para. 76.

  10. 10.

    CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016. See my commentary, Duval (2017).

  11. 11.

    See van Rompuy (2015).

  12. 12.

    See crucially CJEU, C-519/04, David Meca-Medina and Igor Majcen v. Commission of the European Communities, ECLI:EU:C:2006:492, para. 42.

  13. 13.

    Going much deeper into the doctrinal discussion on this point, see Lindholm (2016).

  14. 14.

    TAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing c. FIFA, Award of 9 March 2017, para. 97.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., para. 101.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., paras 102–104.

  17. 17.

    Ibid., paras 105–106.

  18. 18.

    Ibid., para. 107.

  19. 19.

    Ibid., para. 108.

  20. 20.

    See Lindholm (2016) and Egger (2016).

  21. 21.

    TAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing c. FIFA, Award of 9 March 2017, paras 109–112.

  22. 22.

    It refers to “une phase significative d’étude, de consultation, de travaux et discussions à laquelle ont participle de nombreux interlocuteurs”, at Ibid., para. 113.

  23. 23.

    Ibid., para. 114.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., para. 116.

  25. 25.

    Ibid.

  26. 26.

    “La FIFA ne peut pas contrôler les intérêts de personnes qui ne lui sont pas affiliées, ni les contrats qui sont conclus à l'occasion ou à la suite de transferts par d’autres personnes que les clubs, joueurs et agents et dont la déclaration est obligatoire via le TMS.” Ibid., para. 117.

  27. 27.

    Ibid., para. 118.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., para. 120.

  29. 29.

    Ibid., para. 135.

  30. 30.

    Ibid., para. 137.

  31. 31.

    CJEU, C-309/99, J. C. J. Wouters, J. W. Savelbergh and Price Waterhouse Belastingadviseurs BV v. Algemene Raad van de Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten, intervener: Raad van de Balies van de Europese Gemeenschap, ECLI:EU:C:2002:98.

  32. 32.

    TAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing c. FIFA, Award of 9 March 2017, para. 138.

  33. 33.

    Ibid., para. 143.

  34. 34.

    Ibid., paras 145–148.

  35. 35.

    Ibid., paras 149–151.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., paras 152–161.

  37. 37.

    SFT 4A_260/2017, Decision of 20 February 2018. On this decision, see Maisonneuve (2018).

  38. 38.

    See in general Peiffer (2019) and for my own skeptical view of the importance of the decision, see Antoine Duval, Seraing vs. FIFA: Why the rumours of CAS’s death have been greatly exaggerated, 10 September 2018. https://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/seraing-vs-fifa-why-the-rumours-of-cas-s-death-have-been-greatly-exaggerated. Accessed 6 November 2019.

  39. 39.

    See for example CJEU, C-519/04, David Meca-Medina and Igor Majcen v. Commission of the European Communities, ECLI:EU:C:2006:492 and CJEU, T-193/02, Laurent Piau v. Commission of the European Communities, ECLI:EU:T:2005:22.

  40. 40.

    Antoine Duval, Unpacking Doyen’s TPO Deals: In defence of the compatibility of FIFA’s TPO ban with EU law, 18 December 2015. http://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/unpacking-doyen-s-tpo-deals-in-defence-of-the-compatibility-of-fifa-s-tpo-ban-with-eu-law. Accessed 6 November 2019. For arguments in the other direction, see Hall (2015) and de Mendonça (2018).

  41. 41.

    On the football leaks investigative project, see European Investigative Collaborations, Football Leaks Continue. https://eic.network/projects/football-leaks-continues. Accessed 6 November 2019.

  42. 42.

    FIFPro, the main players’ union, has supported the TPO ban since the beginning. See FIFPro, FIFPro versus Third Party Ownership, 28 March 2014. https://fifpro.org/news/fifpro-versus-third-party-ownership/en/. Accessed 6 November 2019. See also the recent chapter by the current FIFPro Secretary General strongly supporting the TPO ban, Baer-Hoffmann (2016).

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    Antoine Duval

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  1. ASSER International Sports Law Centre, T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Antoine Duval

  2. Faculté de droit, Université de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Antonio Rigozzi

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Duval, A. (2019). CAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing v. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Award of 9 March 2017. In: Duval, A., Rigozzi, A. (eds) Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration 2017. Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/15757_2019_30

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