Sell-on Clauses in Light of FIFA and CAS Jurisprudence

In this article, the authors¹ will focus on the so-called sell-on clause. All the relevant published jurisprudence of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee (PSC) and, on appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will be analysed in depth. An analysis will follow and the key principles that derive from the leading football jurisprudence and the legal pitfalls will be highlighted.

Introduction

Over the last decades international football has turned into a very lucrative business. Transfer fees of tens of millions of euros have become more and more common on a worldwide scale. Signing talented players, and subsequently transferring them for a higher amount to a third club, has become a very lucrative investment for clubs. As such, a frequently used way to keep a financial interest in a talented player, is to add a sell-on clause to the transfer contract.

We will see that sell-on clauses are beneficial for both the old and the new club. The old club possibly benefits from the subsequent transfer, whereas the new club will initially have to pay a lower amount and will only be obliged to pay part of the transfer fee if the player is transferred to a third club for a higher fee, and was therefore worth the initial investment.

In this article, the authors will specifically focus on the sell-on clause. In this regard, the authors...

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