FL Series – The End of the ITC? Rethinking the FIFA’s Transfer System after Diarra

In this contribution, Jacques Blondin (SP.IN Law) argues that the Diarra ruling not only reignites the debate on contractual stability but also exposes structural inefficiencies within the transfer process. He revisits the role of the International Transfer Certificate (ITC) and suggests that recent regulatory and technological developments have rendered it largely redundant, opening the way for a more streamlined and mobility-friendly transfer system.

FL Series – Seraing and Diarra: Re Anchoring Professional Football in EU Law

Rather than presenting Seraing and Diarra as a rupture, Carlos Hurtado and Romaric Foussard (Baker McKenzie) argue that these judgments confirm and extend a long-standing line of EU case-law shaping the governance of professional football. Their contribution examines how EU Law reasserts its primacy over FIFA regulations, clarifies the role of national courts in enforcing EU public policy and points towards a progressive realignment of the transfer system with the legal and economic framework of the European market.

FL Series – Beyond the FIFA Transfer System: Rethinking Transnational Redistribution in Football’s Global Eco-System

In this contribution, Antoine Duval, Senior Researcher at the Asser Institute, challenges the conventional understanding of the FIFA transfer system by arguing that its primary function is not contractual stability, but transnational economic redistribution across football’s global ecosystem. Building on the implications of the Diarra judgment, he explores the structural limits and negative externalities of the current model and outlines possible avenues for decoupling redistribution from restrictions on player mobility.

The Royal Antwerp FC Judgment (C-680/21): Last But Not Least

Far from being the overlooked judgment of the CJEU’s sporting trilogy of 21 December 2023, Royal Antwerp FC may prove to be the most structurally significant. In this contribution, Melchior Wathelet, Ministre d’Etat and Professor of European Law, Fabrice Picod, Professor of European Law at University Paris II Panthéon-Assas, and Oliver Budzinski, Full Professor of Economic Theory at Ilmenau University of Technology, show why its consequences may extend well beyond the legality of home-grown player rules, reaching the very foundations of football governance under EU Law.

Re-Regulating the European Professional Football Labour Market

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Football Legal # 23

Special Report: The Diarra Judgment – One Year Later
Focus: The Seraing Judgment and EU Law

To access Football Legal #23, our Leader and Premium subscribers may click here.

One year after the CJEU delivered its ruling in FIFA v. Diarra, this Special Report reviews its first concrete effects on the transfer system. It provides a concise assessment of what has changed in practice - and what has not - following the adoption of FIFA’s Interim Regulatory Framework and the early adjustments made by clubs, players, agents and dispute-resolution bodies.

The edition also includes a Focus on the Seraing judgment, which clarifies the interaction between EU law and sports arbitration, notably regarding res judicata and the role of national courts in reviewing CAS awards.

You will additionally find our regular selection of recent CAS and Swiss Federal Tribunal case-law, along with international and national updates from several jurisdictions.

Leader and Premium subscribers: to order your paper version, click here (free of charge, excluding shipping costs).

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Football Legal # 23