CAS 2014/A/3527 Football Federation of Kazakhstan (FFK) v. Oliver Pelzer

Date of the decision: 2015-07-31

Arbitrator(s): Sofoklis Pilavios Michael Gerlinger Aliaksandr Danilevich

Early termination of a contract cannot be based on every breach of obligation by the contract partner. Rather, the breach of contract must have certain seriousness in order to justify “just cause”. According to CAS case law, if the player does not provide the club with his working capacity, this constitutes a serious breach of duty which can justify unilateral termination of the contract, for example if the player does not even report for work. If, on the other hand, the player cannot provide the club with his working capacity due to illness or injury, this does not constitute a breach of duty and there is no “just cause” for unilateral termination of the contract. According to CAS jurisprudence, “in principle the harmed party should be restored to the position in which the same party would have been had the contract been properly fulfilled (Article 97.1 of the Swiss Code of Obligations).”

Facts/Procedure

On 28 January 2011, the Football Federation of Kazakhstan (FFK) entered into an employment Agreement with Oliver Pelzer (the Coach), hiring him as the Head Coach and football instructor for the Men’s U17 National Team.

On 3 June 2011, the Coach sent an email to FFK’s General Secretary, informing him that he had to leave Kazakhstan and return to Germany because of the condition of his health and the impending expiry of...

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