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Latest FL Journal Articles
30
May
2025
PAOK’s Head Coach Received a Disciplinary Sanction for his Conduct in the Match against AEK - By Aspa SOULOUKOU
HFF Appeals Committee, 14 January 2025, no. 1/2025
The head coach of PAOK FC, Răzvan Lucescu, was sanctioned for violation of several articles of HFF’s Disciplinary Code.
During the 2024-2025 sporting season, at the end of the domestic derby between AEK FC (host team) and PAOK FC for the Greek Cup, which took place on 18 December 2024, at the parking space of OPAP ARENA, three fans of AEK FC wa...
30
May
2025
Labor and Employment Disputes and Sports Arbitration in Brazil - By Filipe ORSOLINI PINTO DE SOUZA
Introduction
Undoubtedly, dispute resolution in football or sports in general constitutes one of the most challenging topics to the industry both on international and national levels. An efficient system of dispute resolution is essential to the organization and sustainability of this powerful market. Within the structure of the Fédération Inte...
30
May
2025
Key Amendments to FIGC Agent Regulation - By Stefano LA PORTA & Luigi PRIMICERIO
On 23 April 2025, the Italian Football Association (FIGC) published the amended version of its Football Agents Regulation (FIGC Regulation) that features the following news:
The scope of application of the FIGC Regulation has been extended to female players (i.e. those with a professional status playing in Serie A).
The definition of “domici...
30
May
2025
The Implementation of the Role of the “Safeguarding Officer” in Italy - By Lucio MAZZEI
Introduction
In Italy, the approval of the Legislative Decree no. 39 of 28 February 2021 led to a substantial reform of the sports field (in Italian, the so-called “Riforma dello Sport”). In the author’s view, such reform contributed to the modernisation and harmonisation of the Italian sports system, creating - among other things - a regula...
30
May
2025
Dual Nationality and International Dimension of a Labor Dispute - By Jacques BLONDIN
CAS 2023/A/9990 FC Ballkani v. Leonit Abazi & FIFA
Introduction
The case involving FC Ballkani, a three-time champion of Kosovo, and Leonit Abazi, an Albanian-Kosovar footballer, is interesting since it addresses the issue of whether a dispute has an international dimension or not.
The international nature of a dispute is in fact an essential element for FIFA to accept jurisdiction to decide o...
30
May
2025
CAS 2024/4/10514 Sporting du Pays de Charleroi v. FIFA - By Ariel RECK
CAS 2024/4/10514 Sporting du Pays de Charleroi v. FIFA
The case concerns a decision by FIFA in relation to a training compensation claim decided by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (FIFA DRC) in the context of the Clearing House procedures.
On 25 August 2023, the Belgian player Samuel Kandi Nibombe (Player) transferred from Charleroi to AS Monaco FC as a free agent, this being his first registra...
30
May
2025
Governance in Icelandic Football Clubs: Is It Time for a New Ownership Model? By Árni Freyr SVERRISSON
Icelandic Football Clubs are small entities and are publicly owned. The form that is used is the so-called “General Non-profit Organizations”, which means the clubs are controlled by their members according to their regulations. The usual election process is when the members elect the board for each period. Financially, the clubs rely heavily on...
30
May
2025
Is the Icelandic Football Association as Professional as They Claim to Be? By Árni Freyr SVERRISSON
The Icelandic Football Association (KSÍ) was founded in 1947, and the first national game was played on 17 July 1946 against Denmark.[1] A lot has happened since then, and the evolution of Icelandic football continues to grow, with milestones such as qualifying for the EURO in 2016, where they went all the way to the quarter-finals, beating Engl...
30
May
2025
Penalty Clause Enforced: AFA NDRC Rules Against Player in Breach of Agency Contract - By Ariel RECK
AFA NDRC, 21 April 2025, no. CNRD 0016-03/2024, Belvedere, Luis c/ Genez, Nahuel Alejandro
In a claim filed by an agent against a former client for breach of contract, the AFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (AFA NDRC) imposed on the player the contractual penalty of USD 150,000 (approx. EUR 135,200).
The player Nahuel Genez signed an agency agreement with Mr. Belvedere. During the first year of the contract, the relationship went as plan...
30
May
2025
Argentine Court Rejects Agent’s Claim for Lack of License and Evidence - By Ariel RECK
City of Buenos Aires Commercial First Instance Court, 21 April 2025, no. 17730/2021, Lautersztein, Tomás c/ Cañete, Martín Ezequiel
In a decision dated 21 April 2025, a first instance commercial tribunal rejected a claim by an agent against a player. As in many other cases in Argentine case-law previously reported,[1] the two main arguments to reject the claim were:
the absence of a valid license by the time the agreement was concluded; and,
the lack of any proven act...
30
May
2025
The Involvement of Religious Issues in Professional Footballers’ Contracts - By Thomas NORMAND
In a globalised world of professional football, religious matters are now making their way into players’ contracts, notably through ethics clauses or requirements to respect the laws and values of the countries where the athletes play, sometimes accompanied by potential sanctions. To ensure that such clauses do not hinder the signing of emp...
30
May
2025
Termination Clauses in Coaches Employment Contracts – German and International Perspectives - By Joachim RAIN
Specific Clauses in Germany and their Legal Framework
Time Limitation/Fixed Term
a) According to German labor law, the fixed term of an employment contract may not exceed two years, unless there is a just cause to do so. Just causes are defined in paragraph 14 of the TzBfG (German “Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act”). Contrary to that, A...
30
May
2025
The Limits of Sports Self-Regulation under EU Law: AG Emiliou’s Opinions - By Ronan DAVID
AG Emiliou Opinions, 15 May 2025, Cases C428/23 ROGON GmbH & Co. KG v DFB, C209/23 RRC Sports and C133/24 CD Tondela
Introduction
Advocate General (AG) Nicholas Emiliou recently delivered three landmark Opinions (15 May 2025) addressing the application of EU Law - in particular, Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) - to regulations in professional football. These Opinions, in Cases C‑209/23 RRC Sports, C‑428/23 ROGON, and...
30
May
2025
CAS 2024/A/10394 CPFC Limited T/A Crystal Palace FC v. North County United / Treasure Coast Tritons - By Emily Anne WILLIAMS
CAS 2024/A/10394 CPFC Limited T/A Crystal Palace FC v. North County United / Treasure Coast Tritons
The dispute originated when Jacob Christian Montes (Player) completed his first professional registration with CPFC Limited T/A Crystal Palace FC (CPFC) on 28 July 2021.
Treasure Coast Tritons (TCT, formerly named North County United - NCU) submitted a claim to the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (FIFA DRC) against CPFC, requesting the amount o...
30
May
2025
Failure to Comply with the Exclusivity Clause: The Footballer was Ordered to Pay the Penalty Clause Stipulated in the Agent’s Contract
Riom Court of Appeal, 16 April 2025, no. 24/00426
In sports agent contracts (exclusive common interest mandates), if the intermediary’s remuneration clause is not precisely drafted, it must be declared null and void. As soon as a second agent contract is concluded between the parties, this deficiency is resolved; the extension amendment to the first agreement, declared null and void, which is n...
30
May
2025
Contestation of Lionel Messi’s Transfer to PSG: The Lack of Interest in the Action of a Member of FC Barcelona and a Supporters’ Association of the Club Confirmed on Appeal
Paris Administrative Court of Appeal, 19 November 2024, no. 23PA03997
Invoking an attack on sporting fairness and free competition between football clubs, an association of FC Barcelona supporters and a member of the Catalan club had challenged the LFP’s approval of Lionel Messi’s contract with PSG and the decision of the DNCG not to have taken administrative measures against the Parisian club in view of its finan...
30
May
2025
The Company Dazn Obtains the Blocking of Websites Illegally Broadcasting Ligue 1
Judicial Court of Paris, Interim Order, 7 November 2024, no. 24/12084
The exclusive holder of the audiovisual exploitation rights for the 2024-2025 Ligue 1 season, the company Dazn, had noted that many websites broadcast the championship almost systematically, free of charge, in streaming and live. Called upon to rule on the merits under an accelerated procedure, the President of the Paris Judicial Court noted the...
30
May
2025
The LFP Obtains the Delisting of Websites Illegally Broadcasting the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 Championships
Paris Judicial Court, Interim Order, 16 January 2025, nos. 25/00226 and 24/15307
Despite the pronouncement of a first series of blocks at the beginning of the 2024-2025 season, the French Professional Football League (LFP) had noted that some websites illegally broadcasting the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 championships were still accessible via specific search engines. Noting that the serious and repeated infringements of the LFP’s...
30
May
2025
30
May
2025
Fines, Closures and Ultras: Sanctioning Power Offside - By Carlos M. MORENO CABALLERO & Alexis S. LÓPEZ RAMOS
Violence in the Stadiums
For decades, public authorities in Spain have waged a constant battle against violence and discriminatory attitudes in the sporting arena. Despite legislative advances and institutional commitment, behaviors that call into question the fundamental values of sport - respect, tolerance and coexistence - still persist. Far...
30
May
2025
CAS 2023/A/10243 Club APOEL Nicosia v. Lucas Vieira de Souza - By Ian LAING WS & Elena LA FICARA
CAS 2023/A/10243 Club APOEL Nicosia v. Lucas Vieira de Souza
30
May
2025
The Premier League and Manchester City Legal Battles: An Insight into English Football’s Recent Developments - By Carlos M. MORENO CABALLERO, Aayush KUMAR & Giuseppe CASTELLI
In recent years, the intersection of football and law has become increasingly pronounced, nowhere more so than in the ongoing disputes between Manchester City Football Club and the Premier League. These legal battles, encompassing issues of financial regulation, competition law and procedural fairness, highlight the growing complexity of governa...
30
May
2025
The Rafael Leão Saga - By Luc KASPEREIT & Ronan DAVID
CAS 2023/A/9670 LOSC Lille v. Sporting Club de Portugal & FIFA & CAS 2023/A/9671 Sporting Club de Portugal v. LOSC Lille
30
May
2025
Some Strange Clauses in Footballers’ Contracts - by Juan de Dios CRESPO PEREZ
Now that the new season is starting soon, and even with another transfer window due to the FIFA Clubs’ World Cup, the football stakeholders are on the verge of conducting transfer agreements and labor contracts.
Having been in the football market for more than 35 years, I have the knowledge, or some to say the least, of singular clauses that cl...
30
May
2025
The Status of Icelandic Footballers: Employees or Contractors? - By Árni Freyr SVERRISSON
In light of the ongoing discussions about football players’ contracts in Iceland, and the Icelandic tax authorities’ demands that football clubs treat their players as employees, the clubs have protested, claiming that players should not be employees.
The statement from the managing director of the Icelandic Top Football Association (ÍTF)[1] th...