The purpose of the analysis of this recent CAS award is to show that an international federation such as FIFA must abide by its rules and is not allowed to either rewrite them or to complete them. The FIFA solidarity mechanism does not prohibit parties to provide in their contract that the agreed transfer compensation is net of any deductions, including the solidarity contribution. As such a prohibition is not provided for or even contemplated in the FIFA Regulations, the FIFA DRC cannot disregard the parties’ understanding. Accordingly, when a net transfer compensation has been agreed upon, it corresponds in fact to 95% of the gross transfer compensation, which is the amount on the basis of which the solidarity contribution shall be calculated. Such an amount of solidarity will include the share to which the transferring club is entitled for the period of time during which it trained and educated the player.
Facts and Procedure of the case
This is an award on the appeal by Olympique Lyonnais (OL), a football club affiliated with the French Football Federation, against a decision issued by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (FIFA DRC) on 28 August 2014 (the FIFA Decision). The FIFA DRC dismissed OL’s claim against AS Roma, a football club affiliated with the Italian Football Association, relating to the payment of a solidarity contribution of EUR 181,577. The FIFA DRC also dismissed AS Roma’s counterclaim for a total amount of EUR 161,491.
OL had claimed for the payment of a solidarity contribution in relation with the transfer of the Bosnian football player Miralem Pjanic (the Player), which had taken place on 29 August 2011, from OL to AS Roma (the Transfer Agreement). The Transfer Agreement provided the following:
“Article 3 – Payment of...
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