This article reviews the development of the regulations contained in Article 19 FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) concerning the prohibition on the transfer of minors and the most important CAS jurisprudence concerning the application of those regulations.
While the rationale behind the regulations has always been understood, the more detailed understanding of their application and implementation has, as is often the case, been assisted by judicial decisions from FIFA and the CAS. As Article 19 did not initially receive a similar level of judicial attention as, for example, Article 17 of the RSTP, the process of enabling a detailed understanding of Article 19 has been slower. Further, the regulations and their application have evolved through both stakeholder input and specific judicial decisions that have highlighted additional exceptions to the prohibition contained in Article 19.
Of course, each case must be considered on its own merits but the intention of the authors is to set out the development of the regulations and the jurisprudence in order that practitioners may draw guidance from what has already been decided.
Background to & Development of Article 19 and Article 19bis
The first edition of the current iteration of RSTP was issued to the national associations on 24 August 2001[1] following an informal agreement between FIFA/UEFA and the European Union’s (EU) Commission on 5 March 2001[2] (EU Agreement).
Article 19 of the RSTP (Article 19) sets out specific regulations in respect of the international transfer of minors (i.e. players under the age of 18) as required by the EU Agreement. At that time, and against a backdrop of reports concerning child trafficking in football[3], FIFA confirmed that the regulations in respect of minors were intended to “…provide a stable environment for the training and education of players. The abuses to which minors have been exposed in the past must be...
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