Brussels, 29/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - In the light of progress made during the meeting in December between the European Commission services and the representative bodies of the football world, both parties consider an agreement is possible for end January on the controversial issue of international transfers of players. Two years ago now, the Commission had raised reservation about the regulation of the FIFA (international football association) relating to transfers, but it was not until end October this year that the FIFA presented a project aimed at eliminating the provisions that the Commission considers incompatible with Community law. Since then, the project has been the subject of deep discussion. The Commission services (competition) felt this was important progress compared to the regulation in force, but that some aspects were still unacceptable from the point of view of Community law.
Discussion relates to the transfer of players when a contract is still running. The question of footballers at the end of contract was in principle settled by the Bosman ruling of the Court of Justice (ban on "transfer indemnities"). The Commission services, however, consider that footballers must also have a reasonable possibility to resume their freedom during the contract period, under certain conditions, as all workers are entitled to do in principle. Discussions therefore bear on the conditions for breaking contracts still running, the aim being to establish a series of coherent rules conform to the Community law, covering training indemnities, the period during which transfers are possible, and the age from which transfers are allowed, etc.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the world of football is not compact. Three bodies are taking part in the discussions: the FIFA mentioned above, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the body that represents the players (FIFPRO). The latter is seeking to take advantage of the situation in order to gain the most liberal regulation possible, and has withdrawn from FIFA and UEFA, making a common position impossible. There is also divergence between the FIFA
(more flexible) and the UEFA (more rigid in its positions). On the side of the Community institutions, the European Commission has recognised the specific nature of the sport and expressed, on several occasions, its determination to take into account this specificity. This was also declared by Ms Reding, responsible for the sector, and Mr Monti, responsible for competition. In Nice, the European Council approved a "declaration relating to the specific nature of the sport and to its social function, which should be taken into account in the implementation of common policies" (see the Presidency's Conclusions of the Nice Summit, Annex IV, in our special bulletin of 10 December). This declaration by the Heads of Government obviously strengthens the political orientation consisting of effectively taking into account the specific nature of sport. The significance of the sport for the physical and moral wellbeing of young persons, the influence of sport on public opinion, its social and cultural significance, the need to fight against deviations of many kinds (doping, violence, hooliganism) compels the European institutions to attribute to it the importance that it deserves, if one hopes to come closer to the Europe of citizens.
FIFA must now finalise and submit to the Commission services a revised project taking into account the criticism of its project of 31 October. Some principles now seemed acquired, while others are still under discussion. In particular:
1. Period of transfers. The Commission services consider as lawful the principle whereby transfers would be possible only during two well-defined periods (in order to prevent competitions being distorted, if a powerful and rich club "lures" a player from a competing club during a championship), and a player could not change clubs more than once during a sports season.
2. Transfer of young players. FIFA states that international transfers should be banned for young players under 18 years of age (except if the family moves to another country of the EU), in order to protect teenagers from the trade in football players. The Commissioner services claim that this provision is incompatible with Community law and calls for the age limit to be 16 (below which no youngster may be employed).
3. Training allowances. These allowances would be due to clubs that train young players, up to 23 for footballers, and even for players whose contracts have expired (which seems to be a partial derogation to the Bosman ruling). This measure would be completed by various other measures of solidarity between clubs (creation of a "solidarity mechanism" funded by a percentage of the amount of the transfers, and partly by revenue from centralised commercialisation of broadcasting rights, etc.). The European Commission services accept these principles, contingent upon examination of partial implementation. They mainly call for the training allowance to be clearly fixed on the basis of the cost of training and not on the "value" of the player on the football market. The cost of training still has to be calculated.
4. Transfer allowances. The FIFA project provides for contracts to last between 3 and 5 years, and, during 3 years, these contracts should not be broken, except by mutual agreement between the club and the player. Compulsory respect of the contracts during 3 years seems excessive, state the Commission services. Nonetheless, the main problem is that of the level of the indemnity due when the contract is broken. By making their initial position more flexible, the Commission services admit that the indemnity may be entered in the contract, and there would therefore be no limit at this level. It is necessary, however, for the indemnity to be admitted by the national law of the country where the club resides. Indemnities would therefore be applied on the basis of the national law (and no longer defined by FIFA rules). The difficulty lies in the fact that this possibility does not exist in the labour law of several Member States. The Member States that plan to protect their clubs should adjust their national law, by applying the principle of "specific nature of sport" that they affirm at European level.
5. Arbitration system. FIFA provides for an arbitration mechanism should a contract be broken, with a view to fixing the transfer indemnity when this is not mentioned in the contract. The system would be based on objective and transparent criteria. Recourse to the arbitration body, which must be independent, would be voluntary: the three parties involved (buying club, selling club and player concerned) may also reach agreement with them.
The European Commission had raised objection to the FIFA regulation in December 1998 following many complaints that it had received in 1997 and 1998. It stressed on several occasions that it is not seeking to abolish the system of international transfers, but to bring it into conformity with Community law, on the basis of the following principles: specific nature of sport in general and of football in particular, required to protect young players and encourage training, the stability of competitions, and solidarity between the large and small clubs.