10 years after offence: European Court of Justice rules in Seraing’s favour in dispute with FIFA | OneFootball

As per HLN, the European Court of Justice has ruled in RFC Seraing’s favour, after the club were in dispute with FIFA regarding third-party owners.

The problems stem from 2015, when Seraing transferred the economic rights for several players to the Maltese company Doyen Sports. However, according to FIFA, this violated the ban on Third Party Ownership (TPO).

The Belgian news outlet explains that. “this means that a party other than a football club owns part of the economic rights to a player and can thus profit from transfer fees, loan fees, and image rights.”

FIFA imposed a transfer ban on the club for four transfer windows and a fine of 150,000 Swiss francs (over 136,000 euros). These sanctions were upheld by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Swiss Federal Court, with FIFA being based in Switzerland.

The case was also brought before the Belgian court, but it declared itself incompetent in the matter. Belgian law recognises the authority of rulings by the CAS. An appeal was subsequently filed, and the Court of Cassation referred the matter to the European Court of Justice.

The Advocate General of the Court had already issued an opinion in the case in January. Now the European Court agree, ruling that “it is essential that arbitration does not undermine the rights and freedoms that athletes, clubs, and the like derive from the fundamental rules of EU law.”

According to the Court, “national courts must therefore have the power to thoroughly review the compatibility of arbitration awards from the CAS. Furthermore, if a national regulation or a sports federation’s regulation prevents national courts from exercising their jurisdiction, the courts are obligated to disapply the regulation.”

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield