In exceptional cases, by application of Article 417 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, freedom of contract may be limited, with the aim to restore balance between the competing interests of the parties, or with the aim to remedy an undesirable, unreasonable or immoral effect of a contractual agreement on the basis of the principle of proportionality. On such basis, a CAS Panel can decide to lower an unreasonably high player’s agent contractual commission to an amount it deems appropriate and commensurate given the overall services rendered by an agent to a club and said parties’ original agreement.
Facts/Procedure
This dispute arose for a Bologna FC (the Club) claimed excessive agent commission to Mr Pineiro (the Agent), a licensed player’s intermediary.
On 1 July 2008, the Club and the Agent concluded an agreement (the First Agreement), by means of which the Club granted the Agent an exclusive mandate to act in its interests in relation to the transfer of the Player to Bologna and the conclusion of an employment contract of five years. This mandate was agreed to be valid from 1 July 2008 to 31 August 2008.
The First Agreement provided that if the Club signed an employment contract with the Player for a term of five years, the Agent would be entitled to receive a fee of EUR 2,000,000, payable in three instalments, as stated therein.
The First Agreement also provided that only in the event that the Player, following his registration with the Club, was definitively transferred for value to another club, by no...
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