National Law in International Sports Disputes
This dispute relates to the transfer of a Serbian football player from Serbian Football Club A to Belgian Football Club B in the summer of 2013. The transfer fee for this move was comprised of both (i) a fixed amount of EUR 5,000,000 and (ii) 20% of the added value in the event of a subsequent transfer from Football Club B to a third club. In this context, a service agreement was signed between Company X and Football Club A, in which Company X, through its players’ agents, provided legal, administrative and technical assistance to Football Club A relating to the transfer. Company X’s remuneration for providing these services was calculated as an amount of 10% of the transfer fee received by Football Club A from Football Club B. The facts used in this article are based on a public Belgian case regarding this dispute. Nevertheless, further details about the relevant CAS proceedings are protected by the confidentiality provided in R43 of the CAS Code. For this article’s purpose, it is sufficient to state that the main dispute revolved around the (non-) payment of this remuneration to Company X regarding the Serbian football player’s transfer.
The fees that Company X is now claiming from Football Club A are exclusively based on the service agreement both parties had concluded in 2013. A prerequisite for awarding these fees to Company X is therefore that the service agreement is valid and legal. As such, the agreement has to comply with all applicable laws. Given the international elements of this case (i.e. a Serbian club, a Belgian club, a Serbian player, an English company [Company X]), defining the applicable law is a task that requires, to say the very least, careful consideration. More important, carefully defining the applicable law(s) is likely to determine the outcome, as will be shown.
A first instinct in international football disputes is usually to look at the relevant FIFA Regulations. The service agreement dates from the summer of 2013, at a time when the FIFA Players’ Agents Regulations were still in force.
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