{ "attribution": { "source": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=eu:c-650-22-62022cj0650", "cite_as": "NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=eu:c-650-22-62022cj0650)", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision", "version": "legal-2026-10-13", "fingerprint": "ewai:eu:a03983", "proof": "sha256:facba5409638a6d589e44883cae58a1d08b9e4a0c8c508c56069f5cb6aaa154e", "jurisdiction": "eu", "lang": "en", "publisher": "NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal", "terms": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om" }, "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "item": { "schema_version": "1.0.0", "id": "eu:c-650-22-62022cj0650", "jurisdiction": "eu", "lang": "en", "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "brand": { "product": "NovaCopilot", "platform": "ExploreWorldAI", "infrastructure": "ExploreWorld Legal", "infrastructure_url": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "legal_entity": "Valkiv Ventures AB", "permanent_url": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot", "source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "powered_by": "Powered by NovaCopilot", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor" }, "sections": [ { "title": "62022CJ0650", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Second Chamber)", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "4 October 2024 (\n *1\n ) (\n i\n )", "paragraphs": [ "para_4", "para_5", "para_6" ] }, { "title": "Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA)", "paragraphs": [ "para_8", "para_9", "para_10", "para_11", "para_12", "para_13", "para_14", "para_15", "para_16", "para_17", "para_18", "para_19", "para_20", "para_21", "para_22", "para_23", "para_24", "para_25", "para_26", "para_27", "para_28", "para_29", "para_30", "para_31", "para_32", "para_33", "para_34", "para_35", "para_36", "para_37", "para_38", "para_39", "para_40", "para_41", "para_42", "para_43", "para_44", "para_45" ] }, { "title": "Judgment", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "1", "paragraphs": [ "para_48" ] }, { "title": "2", "paragraphs": [ "para_50" ] }, { "title": "I.   Legal context", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "A.\n  \n The FIFA Statutes", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "3", "paragraphs": [ "para_54" ] }, { "title": "4", "paragraphs": [ "para_56" ] }, { "title": "5", "paragraphs": [ "para_58" ] }, { "title": "B.\n  \n The FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "6", "paragraphs": [ "para_61" ] }, { "title": "7", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The introductory part of the RSTP, entitled ‘Definitions’, contains the following passage:", "paragraphs": [ "para_64", "para_65", "para_66", "para_67", "para_68", "para_69", "para_70", "para_71", "para_72", "para_73", "para_74", "para_75", "para_76", "para_77", "para_78", "para_79", "para_80", "para_81" ] }, { "title": "8", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Article 1 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Scope’, states, in paragraph 1:", "paragraphs": [ "para_84" ] }, { "title": "9", "paragraphs": [ "para_86", "para_87", "para_88" ] }, { "title": "10", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Article 5 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Registration’, provides, in paragraph 1:", "paragraphs": [ "para_91" ] }, { "title": "11", "paragraphs": [ "para_93" ] }, { "title": "12", "paragraphs": [ "para_95" ] }, { "title": "1.   The rules relating to employment contracts", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "13", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Under Article 13 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Respect of contract’:", "paragraphs": [ "para_99" ] }, { "title": "14", "paragraphs": [ "para_101", "para_102" ] }, { "title": "15", "paragraphs": [ "para_104", "para_105" ] }, { "title": "16", "paragraphs": [ "para_107", "para_108", "para_109", "para_110", "para_111", "para_112" ] }, { "title": "17", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Article 22 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Competence of FIFA’, states:", "paragraphs": [ "para_115" ] }, { "title": "(a)", "paragraphs": [ "para_117", "para_118" ] }, { "title": "18", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Article 24 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Dispute Resolution Chamber’, provides, in paragraph 1:", "paragraphs": [ "para_121" ] }, { "title": "2.   The rules relating to transfers", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "19", "paragraphs": [ "para_124", "para_125" ] }, { "title": "20", "paragraphs": [ "para_127", "para_128", "para_129", "para_130" ] }, { "title": "8.2 Creating an ITC for a professional player", "paragraphs": [ "para_132", "para_133" ] }, { "title": "4. Within seven days of the date of the ITC request, the former association shall …:", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(a)", "paragraphs": [ "para_136" ] }, { "title": "(b)", "paragraphs": [ "para_138", "para_139", "para_140", "para_141" ] }, { "title": "21", "paragraphs": [ "para_143" ] }, { "title": "22", "paragraphs": [ "para_145" ] }, { "title": "23", "paragraphs": [ "para_147" ] }, { "title": "24", "paragraphs": [ "para_149" ] }, { "title": "25", "paragraphs": [ "para_151" ] }, { "title": "26", "paragraphs": [ "para_153" ] }, { "title": "27", "paragraphs": [ "para_155" ] }, { "title": "28", "paragraphs": [ "para_157" ] }, { "title": "29", "paragraphs": [ "para_159" ] }, { "title": "30", "paragraphs": [ "para_161" ] }, { "title": "31", "paragraphs": [ "para_163" ] }, { "title": "32", "paragraphs": [ "para_165" ] }, { "title": "33", "paragraphs": [ "para_167" ] }, { "title": "34", "paragraphs": [ "para_169" ] }, { "title": "35", "paragraphs": [ "para_171" ] }, { "title": "36", "paragraphs": [ "para_173" ] }, { "title": "37", "paragraphs": [ "para_175" ] }, { "title": "38", "paragraphs": [ "para_177" ] }, { "title": "39", "paragraphs": [ "para_179" ] }, { "title": "40", "paragraphs": [ "para_181" ] }, { "title": "41", "paragraphs": [ "para_183" ] }, { "title": "42", "paragraphs": [ "para_185" ] }, { "title": "43", "paragraphs": [ "para_187" ] }, { "title": "44", "paragraphs": [ "para_189" ] }, { "title": "45", "paragraphs": [ "para_191", "para_192", "para_193", "para_194", "para_195", "para_196" ] }, { "title": "III.   Procedure before the Court", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "46", "paragraphs": [ "para_199" ] }, { "title": "47", "paragraphs": [ "para_201" ] }, { "title": "48", "paragraphs": [ "para_203" ] }, { "title": "49", "paragraphs": [ "para_205" ] }, { "title": "50", "paragraphs": [ "para_207" ] }, { "title": "51", "paragraphs": [ "para_209" ] }, { "title": "52", "paragraphs": [ "para_211" ] }, { "title": "53", "paragraphs": [ "para_213" ] }, { "title": "54", "paragraphs": [ "para_215" ] }, { "title": "55", "paragraphs": [ "para_217" ] }, { "title": "56", "paragraphs": [ "para_219" ] }, { "title": "57", "paragraphs": [ "para_221" ] }, { "title": "58", "paragraphs": [ "para_223" ] }, { "title": "59", "paragraphs": [ "para_225" ] }, { "title": "60", "paragraphs": [ "para_227" ] }, { "title": "IV.   Admissibility", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "61", "paragraphs": [ "para_230" ] }, { "title": "62", "paragraphs": [ "para_232" ] }, { "title": "A.\n  \n The content of the order for reference", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "63", "paragraphs": [ "para_235" ] }, { "title": "64", "paragraphs": [ "para_237" ] }, { "title": "65", "paragraphs": [ "para_239" ] }, { "title": "66", "paragraphs": [ "para_241" ] }, { "title": "B.\n  \n The facts of the dispute and the relevance of the question referred to the Court", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "67", "paragraphs": [ "para_244" ] }, { "title": "68", "paragraphs": [ "para_246" ] }, { "title": "69", "paragraphs": [ "para_248" ] }, { "title": "C.\n  \n The cross-border dimension of the dispute in the main proceedings", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "70", "paragraphs": [ "para_251" ] }, { "title": "71", "paragraphs": [ "para_253" ] }, { "title": "72", "paragraphs": [ "para_255" ] }, { "title": "73", "paragraphs": [ "para_257" ] }, { "title": "V.   Consideration of the question referred", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "74", "paragraphs": [ "para_260", "para_261", "para_262", "para_263", "para_264", "para_265", "para_266" ] }, { "title": "A.\n  \n Preliminary observations", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "75", "paragraphs": [ "para_269" ] }, { "title": "76", "paragraphs": [ "para_271" ] }, { "title": "77", "paragraphs": [ "para_273" ] }, { "title": "78", "paragraphs": [ "para_275" ] }, { "title": "79", "paragraphs": [ "para_277" ] }, { "title": "80", "paragraphs": [ "para_279" ] }, { "title": "81", "paragraphs": [ "para_281" ] }, { "title": "82", "paragraphs": [ "para_283" ] }, { "title": "83", "paragraphs": [ "para_285" ] }, { "title": "84", "paragraphs": [ "para_287" ] }, { "title": "85", "paragraphs": [ "para_289", "para_290" ] }, { "title": "1.   Consideration of whether there is a restriction on the freedom of movement of workers", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "86", "paragraphs": [ "para_293" ] }, { "title": "87", "paragraphs": [ "para_295" ] }, { "title": "88", "paragraphs": [ "para_297" ] }, { "title": "89", "paragraphs": [ "para_299" ] }, { "title": "90", "paragraphs": [ "para_301" ] }, { "title": "91", "paragraphs": [ "para_303" ] }, { "title": "92", "paragraphs": [ "para_305" ] }, { "title": "93", "paragraphs": [ "para_307" ] }, { "title": "94", "paragraphs": [ "para_309" ] }, { "title": "2.   Consideration of whether there is justification", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "95", "paragraphs": [ "para_312" ] }, { "title": "96", "paragraphs": [ "para_314" ] }, { "title": "97", "paragraphs": [ "para_316" ] }, { "title": "(a)   Consideration of the pursuit of a legitimate objective in the public interest", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "98", "paragraphs": [ "para_319" ] }, { "title": "99", "paragraphs": [ "para_321" ] }, { "title": "100", "paragraphs": [ "para_323" ] }, { "title": "101", "paragraphs": [ "para_325" ] }, { "title": "102", "paragraphs": [ "para_327" ] }, { "title": "(b)   Consideration of the observance of the principle of proportionality", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "103", "paragraphs": [ "para_330" ] }, { "title": "104", "paragraphs": [ "para_332" ] }, { "title": "105", "paragraphs": [ "para_334" ] }, { "title": "106", "paragraphs": [ "para_336" ] }, { "title": "107", "paragraphs": [ "para_338" ] }, { "title": "108", "paragraphs": [ "para_340" ] }, { "title": "109", "paragraphs": [ "para_342" ] }, { "title": "110", "paragraphs": [ "para_344" ] }, { "title": "111", "paragraphs": [ "para_346" ] }, { "title": "112", "paragraphs": [ "para_348" ] }, { "title": "113", "paragraphs": [ "para_350" ] }, { "title": "3.   Conclusion", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "114", "paragraphs": [ "para_353", "para_354", "para_355", "para_356", "para_357", "para_358", "para_359", "para_360", "para_361" ] }, { "title": "1.   Consideration of Article 101(1) TFEU", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "115", "paragraphs": [ "para_364" ] }, { "title": "116", "paragraphs": [ "para_366" ] }, { "title": "(a)   Consideration of the concepts of ‘undertakings’ and ‘associations of undertakings’", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "117", "paragraphs": [ "para_369" ] }, { "title": "118", "paragraphs": [ "para_371" ] }, { "title": "(b)   Consideration of the concept of ‘decision by an association of undertakings’", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "119", "paragraphs": [ "para_374" ] }, { "title": "120", "paragraphs": [ "para_376" ] }, { "title": "121", "paragraphs": [ "para_378" ] }, { "title": "(c)   Consideration of the concept of ‘effect on trade between Member States’", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "122", "paragraphs": [ "para_381" ] }, { "title": "123", "paragraphs": [ "para_383", "para_384" ] }, { "title": "124", "paragraphs": [ "para_386" ] }, { "title": "125", "paragraphs": [ "para_388" ] }, { "title": "126", "paragraphs": [ "para_390" ] }, { "title": "127", "paragraphs": [ "para_392" ] }, { "title": "128", "paragraphs": [ "para_394" ] }, { "title": "129", "paragraphs": [ "para_396" ] }, { "title": "130", "paragraphs": [ "para_398" ] }, { "title": "131", "paragraphs": [ "para_400" ] }, { "title": "132", "paragraphs": [ "para_402" ] }, { "title": "133", "paragraphs": [ "para_404" ] }, { "title": "134", "paragraphs": [ "para_406" ] }, { "title": "135", "paragraphs": [ "para_408" ] }, { "title": "136", "paragraphs": [ "para_410" ] }, { "title": "137", "paragraphs": [ "para_412" ] }, { "title": "138", "paragraphs": [ "para_414" ] }, { "title": "139", "paragraphs": [ "para_416" ] }, { "title": "140", "paragraphs": [ "para_418" ] }, { "title": "141", "paragraphs": [ "para_420" ] }, { "title": "142", "paragraphs": [ "para_422" ] }, { "title": "143", "paragraphs": [ "para_424" ] }, { "title": "144", "paragraphs": [ "para_426" ] }, { "title": "145", "paragraphs": [ "para_428" ] }, { "title": "146", "paragraphs": [ "para_430" ] }, { "title": "147", "paragraphs": [ "para_432" ] }, { "title": "148", "paragraphs": [ "para_434", "para_435" ] }, { "title": "149", "paragraphs": [ "para_437" ] }, { "title": "150", "paragraphs": [ "para_439" ] }, { "title": "151", "paragraphs": [ "para_441" ] }, { "title": "152", "paragraphs": [ "para_443" ] }, { "title": "2.   Consideration of Article 101(3) TFEU", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "153", "paragraphs": [ "para_446" ] }, { "title": "154", "paragraphs": [ "para_448" ] }, { "title": "155", "paragraphs": [ "para_450" ] }, { "title": "156", "paragraphs": [ "para_452" ] }, { "title": "157", "paragraphs": [ "para_454" ] }, { "title": "3.   Conclusion", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "158", "paragraphs": [ "para_457", "para_458", "para_459", "para_460", "para_461", "para_462", "para_463", "para_464" ] }, { "title": "Costs", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "159", "paragraphs": [ "para_467" ] }, { "title": "On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby rules:", "paragraphs": [ "para_469", "para_470", "para_471", "para_472", "para_473", "para_474", "para_475", "para_476", "para_477", "para_478", "para_479", "para_480", "para_481", "para_482" ] } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "62022CJ0650", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Second Chamber)", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "4 October 2024 (\n *1\n ) (\n i\n )", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Internal market – Competition – Rules introduced by an international sports association and implemented by that association with the assistance of its members – Professional football – Private law entities vested with regulatory and control powers, and the power …", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "In Case C‑650/22,", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the cour d’appel de Mons (Court of Appeal, Mons, Belgium), made by decision of 19 September 2022, received at the Court on 17 October 2022, in the proceedings", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA)", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "v", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "BZ,", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "interveners:", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "Union royale belge des sociétés de football association ASBL (URBSFA),", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "Sporting du Pays de Charleroi SA,", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "Fédération internationale des footballeurs professionnels,", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "Fédération internationale des footballeurs professionnels – Division Europe,", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "Union nationale des footballeurs professionnels (UNFP),", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "THE COURT (Second Chamber),", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "composed of A. Prechal, President of the Chamber, F. Biltgen, N. Wahl, J. Passer (Rapporteur) and M.L. Arastey Sahún, Judges,", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "Advocate General: M. Szpunar,", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "Registrar: C. Di Bella, Administrator,", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 18 January 2024,", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "the Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA), by A. Laes, avocat, and D. Van Liedekerke, advocaat,", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "BZ, by J-E. Barthélemy, J.-L. Dupont, P. Henry, M. Hissel and F. Stockart, avocats,", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "Union royale belge des sociétés de football association ASBL (URBSFA), by N. Cariat, E. Matthys and A. Stévenart, avocats,", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "Fédération internationale des footballeurs professionnels, by C. De Preter and P. Paepe, avocats,", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "Fédération internationale des footballeurs professionnels – Division Europe, by J-E. Barthélemy, C. De Preter and P. Paepe, avocats,", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "Union nationale des footballeurs professionnels (UNFP), by C. De Preter, P. Paepe and R. Palao, avocats,", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "the Greek Government, by K. Boskovits and C. Kokkosi, acting as Agents,", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "the French Government, by R. Bénard and V. Depenne, acting as Agents,", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "the Italian Government, by G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and by D. Del Gaizo and S.L. Vitale, avvocati dello Stato,", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "the Hungarian Government, by M.Z. Fehér, E. Gyarmati and K. Szíjjártó, acting as Agents,", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "the European Commission, by S. Baches Opi, T. Baumé, B.-R. Killmann and G. Meessen, acting as Agents,", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 30 April 2024,", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "gives the following", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "Judgment", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "1", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 45 and 101 TFEU.", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "The request has been made in proceedings between the Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) and BZ concerning a claim by BZ for compensation for the harm which he claims to have suffered as a result of the wrongful conduct of FIFA and of the Union royale belge des sociétés de football association ASBL (URBSFA).", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "I.   Legal context", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "A.\n  \n The FIFA Statutes", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "FIFA is a private law association with its seat in Switzerland. According to Article 2 of its Statutes, in the September 2020 edition, its objectives are, inter alia, to ‘draw up regulations and provisions governing the game of football and related matters and to ensure their enforcement’ and to ‘control every type of association football by taking appropriate steps to prevent infringements of the Statutes, regulations or decisions of FIFA or of the Laws of the Game’.", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "Articles 11 and 14 of the FIFA Statutes state that any ‘association which is responsible for organising and supervising football’ in a given country may become a member of FIFA, provided, inter alia, that it is already a member of one of the six continental federations recognised by FIFA and referre …", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "The members of FIFA and UEFA include the URBSFA, which has its headquarters in Belgium and whose purpose is, inter alia, the organisation and promotion of football in that Member State. Under its own statutes, that association undertakes to comply with the statutes, regulations and decisions of FIFA …", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "B.\n  \n The FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "On 22 March 2014, FIFA adopted the ‘Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players’ (‘the RSTP’), which entered into force on 1 August 2014, replacing previous regulations having the same object.", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "The introductory part of the RSTP, entitled ‘Definitions’, contains the following passage:", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "‘For the purpose of these regulations, the terms set out below are defined as follows:", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "1.", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "Former association: the association to which the former club is affiliated.", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "2.", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "Former club: the club that the player is leaving.", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "3.", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "New association: the association to which the new club is affiliated.", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "4.", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "New club: the club that the player is joining.", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "…", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "6.", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "Organised football: association football organised under the auspices of FIFA, the confederations and the associations, or authorised by them.", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "7.", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "Protected period: a period of three entire seasons or three years, whichever comes first, following the entry into force of a contract, where such contract is concluded prior to the 28th birthday of the professional, or two entire seasons or two years, whichever comes first, following the entry into force of a contract, where such contract is concluded after the 28th birthday of the professional.", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "…", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "9.", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "Season: the period starting with the first official match of the relevant national league championship and ending with the last official match of the relevant national league championship.", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "…’", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "Article 1 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Scope’, states, in paragraph 1:", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "‘These regulations lay down global and binding rules concerning the status of players, their eligibility to participate in organised football, and their transfer between clubs belonging to different associations.’", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "Article 2 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Status of players: amateur and professional players’, is worded as follows:", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "‘1.   Players participating in organised football are either amateurs or professionals.", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "2.   A professional is a player who has a written contract with a club and is paid more for his footballing activity than the expenses he effectively incurs. All other players are considered to be amateurs.’", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "Article 5 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Registration’, provides, in paragraph 1:", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "‘A player must be registered at an association to play for a club as either a professional or an amateur in accordance with the provisions of Article 2. Only registered players are eligible to participate in organised football. By the act of registering, a player agrees to abide by the statutes and regulations of FIFA, the confederations and the associations.’", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "Article 6 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Registration periods’, provides, in the first sentence of paragraph 1, that ‘players may only be registered during one of the two annual registration periods fixed by the relevant association’.", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "12", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "The RSTP also include, inter alia, rules relating to the employment contracts concluded between players and clubs and rules relating to the transfers of players.", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "1.   The rules relating to employment contracts", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "13", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "Under Article 13 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Respect of contract’:", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "‘A contract between a professional and a club may only be terminated upon expiry of the term of the contract or by mutual agreement.’", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "14", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "Article 14 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Terminating a contract with just cause’, is worded as follows:", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "‘A contract may be terminated by either party without consequences of any kind (either payment of compensation or imposition of sporting sanctions) where there is just cause.’", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "15", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "Under Article 16 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Restriction on terminating a contract during the season’:", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "‘A contract cannot be unilaterally terminated during the course of a season.’", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "16", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "Article 17 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Consequences of terminating a contract without just cause’, provides:", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "‘The following provisions apply if a contract is terminated without just cause:", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "1.   In all cases, the party in breach shall pay compensation. Subject to the provisions of Article 20 and Annexe 4 in relation to training compensation, and unless otherwise provided for in the contract, compensation for the breach shall be calculated with due consideration for the law of the count …", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "2.   Entitlement to compensation cannot be assigned to a third party. If a professional is required to pay compensation, the professional and his new club shall be jointly and severally liable for its payment. The amount may be stipulated in the contract or agreed between the parties.", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "…", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "4.   In addition to the obligation to pay compensation, sporting sanctions shall be imposed on any club found to be in breach of contract or found to be inducing a breach of contract during the protected period. It shall be presumed, unless established to the contrary, that any club signing a profes …", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "17", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "Article 22 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Competence of FIFA’, states:", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "‘Without prejudice to the right of any player or club to seek redress before a civil court for employment-related disputes, FIFA is competent to hear:", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "(a)", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "disputes between clubs and players in relation to the maintenance of contractual stability (Articles 13-18) where there has been an [International Transfer Certificate (ITC)] request and a claim from an interested party in relation to said ITC request, in particular regarding the issue of the ITC, sporting sanctions or compensation for breach of contract;", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "…’", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "18", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "Article 24 of the RSTP, entitled ‘Dispute Resolution Chamber’, provides, in paragraph 1:", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "‘The Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) shall adjudicate on any of the cases described under [Articles 22(a), (b), and (e)] with the exception of disputes concerning the issue of an ITC.’", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "2.   The rules relating to transfers", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "19", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "Article 9 of the RSTP, entitled ‘International Transfer Certificate’, states, in paragraph 1:", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "‘Players registered at one association may only be registered at a new association once the latter has received an [ITC] from the former association. The ITC shall be issued free of charge without any conditions or time limit. Any provisions to the contrary shall be null and void. The association issuing the ITC shall lodge a copy with FIFA. The administrative procedures for issuing the ITC are contained in Annexe 3, Article 8 … of these regulations.’", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "20", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "Annexe 3 to the RSTP, entitled ‘Transfer matching system’, contains, inter alia, Article 8, covering the ‘Administrative procedure governing the transfer of professionals between associations’, which provides:", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "‘8.1 Principles", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "1. Any professional player who is registered with a club that is affiliated to one association may only be registered with a club affiliated to a different association after an ITC has been delivered by the former association and the new association has confirmed receipt of the ITC. …", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "…", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "8.2 Creating an ITC for a professional player", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "…", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "3. Upon receipt of the ITC request, the former association shall immediately request the former club and the professional player to confirm whether the professional player’s contract has expired, whether early termination was mutually agreed or whether there is a contractual dispute.", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "4. Within seven days of the date of the ITC request, the former association shall …:", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "(a)", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "deliver the ITC in favour of the new association and enter the deregistration date of the player; or", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "(b)", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "reject the ITC request and indicate … the reason for rejection, which may be either that the contract between the former club and the professional player has not expired or that there has been no mutual agreement regarding its early termination.", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "…", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "7. The former association shall not deliver an ITC if a contractual dispute on grounds of the circumstances stipulated in Annexe 3, Article 8.2, paragraph 4(b) has arisen between the former club and the professional player. In such a case, upon request of the new association, FIFA may take provision …", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "II.   The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "21", "paragraph_id": "para_142" }, { "text": "BZ is a former professional footballer and is resident in Paris (France).", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "22", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "On 20 August 2013, he signed a four-year contract with Futbolny Klub Lokomotiv, also known as Lokomotiv Moscow, a professional football club established in Russia.", "paragraph_id": "para_145" }, { "text": "23", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "On 22 August 2014, Lokomotiv Moscow terminated that contract for reasons which, it claimed, were connected with BZ’s conduct. On 15 September 2014, it applied to the DRC, on the basis of Article 22(a) and Article 24 of the RSTP, for an order that BZ pay it compensation of EUR 20 million, alleging ‘t …", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "24", "paragraph_id": "para_148" }, { "text": "BZ states that he subsequently searched for a new professional football club that might employ him. He states that, in the context of that search, he was faced with the difficulties caused by the risk, borne by any club that might employ him, of being held jointly and severally liable for payment of the compensation that he might be required to pay to Lokomotiv Moscow under Article 17 of the RSTP.", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "25", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "By letter of 19 February 2015, Sporting du Pays de Charleroi SA, a professional football club established in Belgium, offered to employ BZ, while stipulating that its offer was subject to two cumulative suspensive conditions: first, that he be duly registered and eligible to play for its first team …", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "26", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "By letter of 20 February 2015, BZ approached FIFA and the URBSFA, seeking assurance that he could be duly registered and eligible to play for Sporting du Pays de Charleroi’s first team and, furthermore, that Article 17 of the RSTP would not be enforced against that club. FIFA replied that only its c …", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "27", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "By decision of 18 May 2015, the DRC, first, upheld Lokomotiv Moscow’s claim in part and ordered BZ to pay it compensation of EUR 10.5 million. Second, it dismissed BZ’s counterclaim. Third, it ruled that Article 17, paragraph 2 of the RSTP would not apply to BZ in future.", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "28", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "On appeal by BZ, the Tribunal arbitral du sport (Court of Arbitration for Sport; ‘the CAS’), a body having its seat in Lausanne (Switzerland), upheld that decision on 27 May 2016.", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "29", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "On 24 July 2015, BZ was employed by another professional football club, established in France.", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "30", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "On 9 December 2015, BZ brought proceedings before the tribunal de commerce du Hainaut (division de Charleroi) (Commercial Court, Hainaut (Charleroi Division), Belgium), seeking an order that FIFA and the URBSFA pay him compensation of EUR 6 million for the harm which he claimed to have suffered as a result of the wrongful conduct of those two associations.", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "31", "paragraph_id": "para_162" }, { "text": "By decision of 19 January 2017, that court declared that it had jurisdiction to hear and determine BZ’s claim and held that his claim was well founded in principle. It ordered FIFA and the URBSFA jointly and severally to pay a provisional sum to BZ and, for the remainder, adjourned the proceedings indefinitely to allow the parties to reach agreement on quantum as regards the harm suffered by BZ in Belgium as a result of the wrongful conduct of those two associations.", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "32", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "FIFA brought an appeal against that judgment before the cour d’appel de Mons (Court of Appeal, Mons, Belgium), the referring court. Essentially, it asks that court, primarily, to declare that it lacks jurisdiction to hear and determine BZ’s claim on the ground that his claim comes within the exclusi …", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "33", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": "The URBSFA, which was joined in the proceedings, seeks a similar form of order.", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "34", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "Sporting du Pays de Charleroi, which submitted a voluntary application to intervene before the referring court, supports the forms of order sought by FIFA and the URBSFA.", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "35", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "BZ, who lodged a cross-appeal, contends, essentially, that the referring court should, first, rule that Article 17 of the RSTP, Article 9, paragraph 1 of those regulations and Article 8.2.7 of Annexe 3 to those regulations infringe Articles 45 and 101 TFEU and, second, order FIFA and the URBSFA jointly and severally to make good the harm which he has suffered as a result of the existence and the implementation of those regulations.", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "36", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "In its order for reference, the cour d’appel de Mons (Court of Appeal, Mons), after declaring both FIFA’s appeal and Sporting du Pays de Charleroi’s voluntary application to intervene admissible, considers, in the first place, that the tribunal de commerce du Hainaut (division de Charleroi) (Commerc …", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "37", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "In that regard, the referring court considers, first of all, that that claim cannot be regarded as coming within the sole jurisdiction of the CAS under an arbitration agreement meeting the requisite conditions of validity under Belgian law, having regard to the general, undifferentiated and imprecise nature of the stipulations of the FIFA Statutes to which that association refers with a view to establishing the existence of such an agreement in the present case.", "paragraph_id": "para_175" }, { "text": "38", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "Next, the referring court considers that the claim did come within the international jurisdiction of the court of first instance in so far as it concerns both the URBSFA and FIFA. As regards the URBSFA, that jurisdiction is recognised, since that association’s seat is established in Belgium and BZ r …", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "39", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "Lastly, the referring court considers that FIFA and the URBSFA cannot validly allege the existence of ‘jurisdiction fraud’, related to the fact that BZ artificially created a dispute in Belgium by obtaining, by means of deceitful manoeuvres, a fictitious offer of employment from Sporting du Pays de …", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "40", "paragraph_id": "para_180" }, { "text": "In the second place, the cour d’appel de Mons (Court of Appeal, Mons) considers that BZ’s claim is admissible, as he demonstrates to the requisite legal standard that he has an interest in bringing proceedings, in his capacity as the holder of a subjective right who considers that he has suffered harm as a consequence of the wrongful conduct of FIFA and the URBSFA.", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "41", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "In the third and last place, the referring court states that the dispute in the main proceedings requires a determination of whether the harm which BZ considers he has suffered, by being prevented from exercising his activity as a professional footballer during the 2014/2015 season, has its cause in …", "paragraph_id": "para_183" }, { "text": "42", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "On that point, the referring court observes, first, that in BZ’s submission those rules must be regarded, in the light of the judgment of 15 December 1995, Bosman ( C‑415/93 , EU:C:1995:463 ), as being restrictive of both the freedom of movement of workers and competition. The rule laid down in Arti …", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "43", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "Second, the referring court observes that, according to FIFA and the URBSFA, the various rules at issue in the main proceedings should generally be understood in the light of the specificity of sport, which is recognised by the FEU Treaty. More particularly, those associations submit that, even if t …", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "44", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "The referring court considers, in essence, that the possibility cannot be ruled out that, in particular when they are taken together, the various rules at issue in the main proceedings constitute a restriction on the freedom of movement of workers and competition. It also observes that in the presen …", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "45", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "In those circumstances, the cour d’appel de Mons (Court of Appeal, Mons) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "‘Are Articles 45 and 101 TFEU to be interpreted as precluding:", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "the principle that the player and the club wishing to employ him [or her] are jointly and severally liable in respect of the compensation due to the club whose contract with the player has been terminated without just cause, as stipulated in [Article 17, paragraph 2] of the RSTP, in conjunction with the sporting sanctions provided for in [Article 17, paragraph 4] of those regulations and the financial sanctions provided for in [Article 17, paragraph 1];", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "the ability of the [national football association] to which the player’s former club belongs not to deliver the [ITC] required if the player is to be employed by a new club, where there is a dispute between that former club and the player ([Article 9, paragraph 1] of the RSTP and Article 8.2.7 of Annexe 3 to the RSTP)?’", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "III.   Procedure before the Court", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "46", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "On 15 December 2022, that is to say, after the order for reference was adopted, three associations representing professional footballers, the first at international level (the Fédération internationale des footballers professionnels (International Federation of Professional Footballers; ‘FIFPro’)), …", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "47", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "On 19 December 2022, the referring court informed the Court of the existence of that voluntary application to intervene.", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "48", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "Questioned by the Court Registry as to whether the associations in question were to be considered to be new parties to the dispute in the main proceedings solely because they had submitted a voluntary application to intervene or whether recognition of that status required a decision on its part, the …", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "49", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "In the light of that answer, the request for a preliminary ruling was notified to those associations, in accordance with Article 97(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, and a time limit was set for them to submit written observations.", "paragraph_id": "para_205" }, { "text": "50", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "After those written observations had been lodged, FIFA requested the Court, on 30 May 2023 and then again on 12 June 2023, to reject them or to declare them inadmissible, on the ground that the three associations in question could not be considered to be new parties to the dispute in the main procee …", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "51", "paragraph_id": "para_208" }, { "text": "On 29 November 2023, the Court Registry convened, among others, all the parties to the dispute in the main proceedings, as determined by the referring court, to the hearing, to take place on 18 January 2024. On that occasion, it informed them that, having deliberated on 23 November 2023, the Second …", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "52", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "In that regard, Article 96(1)(a) of the Rules of Procedure, read in conjunction with Article 23 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, provides that, in preliminary ruling proceedings, inter alia, the parties to the dispute in the main proceedings are to be authorised to submit observations to the Court.", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "53", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "Under Article 97(1) of the Rules of Procedure, the parties to the dispute in the main proceedings are those who are determined as such by the referring court or tribunal in accordance with national rules of procedure.", "paragraph_id": "para_213" }, { "text": "54", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "It is not for the Court to determine whether the decisions of the referring court relating to that determination have been taken in accordance with the applicable national procedural rules. On the contrary, the Court must abide by such decisions in so far as they have not been overturned in any appeal procedures provided for by national law (see, to that effect, judgment of 6 October 2015, Orizzonte Salute, C‑61/14 , EU:C:2015:655 , paragraph  33 ).", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "55", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "The Court is therefore required to regard as a party to the dispute in the main proceedings every person who is determined by the referring court to be such a party, either because that person had that status before the reference for a preliminary ruling was made or because he or she acquired that status afterwards.", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "56", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "In derogation from that principle, a person may be refused the status of party to the dispute in the main proceedings, within the meaning of Article 96(1) of the Rules of Procedure, read in conjunction with Article 23 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, where the material i …", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "57", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "In the present case, as stated in paragraph 48 of the present judgment, the referring court stated expressly, clearly and without reservation that FIFPro, FIFPro Europe and the UNFP were to be considered to be new parties to the dispute in the main proceedings, in accordance with the applicable nati …", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "58", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "Furthermore, the material in that file does not manifestly reveal that the three associations in question submitted their application to intervene before the referring court solely in order to participate in the preliminary ruling proceedings and that they did not envisage playing an active role in the national proceedings.", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "59", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "Accordingly, those associations had to be recognised as parties to the dispute in the main proceedings, within the meaning of Article 96 of the Rules of Procedure, and were therefore entitled to submit observations to the Court.", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "60", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "Consequently, their written observations did not have to be declared inadmissible.", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "IV.   Admissibility", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "61", "paragraph_id": "para_229" }, { "text": "FIFA, the URBSFA and the Greek, French and Hungarian Governments question the admissibility of the request for a preliminary ruling or, at the very least, of certain aspects of the question referred to the Court.", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "62", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "The arguments which they put forward in that respect are, in essence, of three types. First, according to the Greek and French Governments and also the URBSFA, the content of the order for reference does not comply with the requirements set out in Article 94 of the Rules of Procedure, in that the or …", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "A.\n  \n The content of the order for reference", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "63", "paragraph_id": "para_234" }, { "text": "The preliminary reference procedure provided for in Article 267 TFEU is an instrument of cooperation between the Court of Justice and the national courts, by means of which the Court provides the national courts with the points of interpretation of EU law which they need in order to decide the dispu …", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": "64", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "Moreover, the information provided in the order for reference must not only be such as to enable the Court to reply usefully but must also give the governments of the Member States and other interested parties an opportunity to submit observations pursuant to Article 23 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union (judgment of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company, C‑333/21 , EU:C:2023:1011 , paragraph  60 and the case-law cited).", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "65", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "In the present case, the request for a preliminary ruling meets the requirements set out in the preceding two paragraphs of the present judgment. The order for reference states in detail the factual and legal context of the question referred to the Court. Furthermore, that order states, succinctly b …", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "66", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "Moreover, the tenor of the written observations submitted to the Court shows that their authors had no difficulty in understanding the factual and legal context of the referring court’s question, in understanding the meaning and the scope of the underlying factual statements, in grasping the reasons why the referring court considered it necessary to refer the question and also, ultimately, in adopting a comprehensive and useful position on the matter.", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "B.\n  \n The facts of the dispute and the relevance of the question referred to the Court", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "67", "paragraph_id": "para_243" }, { "text": "It is solely for the national court before which the dispute in the main proceedings has been brought, and which must assume responsibility for the subsequent judicial decision, to determine in the light of the particular circumstances of the case, both the need for a preliminary ruling in order to …", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "68", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "In the present case, the referring court’s statements summarised in paragraphs 22 to 35, 39 and 41 to 44 above affirm the actual state of the dispute in the main proceedings. Moreover, those same statements show that it cannot be said that the referring court’s reference to the Court on the interpretation of Articles 45 and 101 TFEU manifestly bears no relation to the actual facts of the dispute in the main proceedings or its purpose.", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "69", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "It is apparent from those statements, first, that the referring court is seised, both by way of appeal and by way of cross-appeal, of a dispute the subject matter of which is the actual and specific question whether, as held at first instance, BZ is entitled to claim compensation for the harm which …", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "C.\n  \n The cross-border dimension of the dispute in the main proceedings", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "70", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "The FEU Treaty provisions on the freedom of movement of workers, the freedom of establishment, the freedom to provide services and the free movement of capital do not apply to a situation which is confined in all respects within a single Member State, subject to certain specific situations in which …", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "71", "paragraph_id": "para_252" }, { "text": "In the present case, the request for a preliminary ruling cannot be regarded as inadmissible in so far as it concerns the interpretation of Article 45 TFEU, on the freedom of movement of workers, on the ground that that article is unrelated to the dispute in the main proceedings given the lack of a cross-border dimension or, a fortiori, because of its ‘external’ nature in the sense which the URBSFA ascribes to that word.", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "72", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "In fact, the cour d’appel de Mons (Court of Appeal, Mons) states, in its order for reference, that BZ’s residence and the centre of his interests are in Paris. In addition, it observes that the object of his claim is to obtain compensation for the harm which he considers he suffered during the 2014/ …", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "73", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "It follows from the foregoing considerations that none of the arguments set out in paragraph 62 of the present judgment can be accepted and that, consequently, the request for a preliminary ruling is admissible in its entirety.", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "V.   Consideration of the question referred", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "74", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "By its question for a preliminary ruling, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Articles 45 and 101 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding rules which were adopted by a private law association whose objectives include, inter alia, the regulation, organisation and control of football at world level and which provide:", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "first, that a professional player who is party to an employment contract and is deemed to have terminated that contract without just cause, and the new club which employs him or her following that termination, are to be jointly and severally liable for payment of compensation due to the former club for which the player worked, to be determined on the basis of the various criteria listed by those rules;", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "second, that, where the employment of the professional player occurs during a protected period under the employment contract which has been terminated, the new club is to incur a sporting sanction consisting in a ban on registering new players during a specific period, unless it demonstrates that it did not induce the player to breach that contract; and", "paragraph_id": "para_264" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "third, that the existence of a dispute relating to that breach of contract is to prevent the national football association of which the former club is a member from issuing the ITC necessary for that player to be registered at the new club, with the consequence that the player cannot participate in football competitions for the new club.", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "A.\n  \n Preliminary observations", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "75", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "As a preliminary point, it must be borne in mind, in the first place, that, in so far as it constitutes an economic activity, the practice of sport is subject to the provisions of EU law applicable to such an activity (judgment of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company, C‑333/21 , EU:C:2023:1011 , paragraph  83 and the case-law cited).", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "76", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "Only certain specific rules which were adopted solely on non-economic grounds and which relate to questions of interest solely to sport per se must be regarded as being extraneous to any economic activity. That is the case, in particular, of those on the exclusion of foreign players from the composi …", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "77", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "Apart from those specific rules, the rules adopted by sporting associations in order to govern paid work, the performance of services by or the establishment of professional or semi-professional players and, more broadly, those rules which, whilst not formally governing that work, that performance o …", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "78", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "Likewise, the rules adopted by such associations and, more broadly, the conduct of those associations may come within the scope of the FEU Treaty provisions on competition law where the conditions of application of those provisions are met (judgment of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company, C‑333/21 , EU:C:2023:1011 , paragraph  87 and the case-law cited).", "paragraph_id": "para_275" }, { "text": "79", "paragraph_id": "para_276" }, { "text": "The rules at issue in the main proceedings, however, do not form part of those rules to which the exception referred to in paragraph 76 of the present judgment might be applied, which exception the Court has stated repeatedly must be limited to its proper objective and may not be relied upon to excl …", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "80", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "The rules at issue in the main proceedings clearly have a direct impact on players’ work. Thus, the rules referred to in paragraphs 13 to 17 of the present judgment are intended to govern the employment contracts of professional players, which define their working conditions and, indirectly, the eco …", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "81", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "Furthermore, since the composition of the teams constitutes one of the essential parameters of the competitions in which professional football clubs compete and those competitions give rise to an economic activity, rules such as those at issue in the main proceedings, whether they relate to the empl …", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "82", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "The rules at issue in the main proceedings therefore come within the scope of Articles 45 and 101 TFEU.", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "83", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "In the second place, since each of those two articles of the FEU Treaty has its own objective and its own specific conditions of application, since the application of the former does not preclude the application of the latter and vice versa, and since the consequences of an infringement, if established, are not the same in both cases, it is appropriate that the Court should interpret them in turn, as the referring court requests.", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "84", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "In the third and last place, the undeniable specific characteristics of sporting activity, which, whilst relating especially to amateur sport, may also be found in the pursuit of sport as an economic activity, may potentially be taken into account, along with other elements and provided that they ar …", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "85", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "In particular, when it is argued that a rule adopted by a sporting association constitutes an impediment to the freedom of movement of workers or an anticompetitive agreement, the characterisation of that rule as an obstacle or anticompetitive agreement must, at any rate, be based on a specific asse …", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "B.\n  \n The question referred for a preliminary ruling in so far as it relates to Article 45 TFEU", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "1.   Consideration of whether there is a restriction on the freedom of movement of workers", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "86", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "Article 45 TFEU, which has direct effect, precludes any measure, whether it is based on nationality or is applicable without regard to nationality, which might place EU nationals at a disadvantage when they wish to pursue an economic activity in the territory of a Member State other than their Membe …", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "87", "paragraph_id": "para_294" }, { "text": "In the present case, it follows from the wording of the question submitted by the referring court and from the supporting statements that the conduct in connection with which that court asks the Court about the interpretation of Article 45 TFEU consists in the fact that FIFA adopted, and then applie …", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "88", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "Article 17, paragraph 2 of the RSTP provides that a professional player whose employment contract has been terminated without just cause and the new club that employs him following that termination are to be jointly and severally liable for payment of compensation due to the former club for which th …", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "89", "paragraph_id": "para_298" }, { "text": "Next, under Article 17, paragraph 4 of the RSTP, where the player concerned is employed during a protected period under the employment contract which has been terminated, corresponding to the first two or three seasons or years covered by that contract, depending on the player’s age, the new club is …", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "90", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "Lastly, it follows, in particular, from Article 9, paragraph 1 of the RSTP and from Article 8.2.7 of Annexe 3 to those regulations that the existence of a dispute relating to a breach of contract without just cause precludes the national football association of which the former club is a member from …", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "91", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "As observed, in essence, by the Advocate General in points 43 and 44 of his Opinion, that set of rules is likely to place at a disadvantage professional footballers whose residence or place of work is in their Member State of origin and who wish to exercise their economic activity for a new football …", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "92", "paragraph_id": "para_304" }, { "text": "More specifically, the – albeit supplementary – rules setting the amount of compensation payable by any player to his or her former club where the employment contract has been terminated without just cause, provided for in Article 17, paragraph 1 of the RSTP, the rule under which any new club which …", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "93", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "The rules which prohibit, generally and automatically, subject to exceptional circumstances, the issuance of the ITCs necessary for professional players to be registered with their new clubs as long as there exists, between those players and their former clubs, a dispute involving the absence of mut …", "paragraph_id": "para_307" }, { "text": "94", "paragraph_id": "para_308" }, { "text": "The rules at issue in the main proceedings are therefore such as to restrict the freedom of movement of workers.", "paragraph_id": "para_309" }, { "text": "2.   Consideration of whether there is justification", "paragraph_id": "para_310" }, { "text": "95", "paragraph_id": "para_311" }, { "text": "Measures of non-State origin may be permitted even though they are liable to impede a freedom of movement enshrined in the FEU Treaty, if it is proved, first, that their adoption pursues a legitimate objective in the public interest which is compatible with that Treaty and which is therefore other t …", "paragraph_id": "para_312" }, { "text": "96", "paragraph_id": "para_313" }, { "text": "Similarly to situations involving a measure of State origin, it is for the party who introduced those measures of non-State origin to demonstrate that those two cumulative conditions are met (judgments of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company, C‑333/21 , EU:C:2023:1011 , paragraph  252 , and of 21 December 2023, Royal Antwerp Football Club, C‑680/21 , EU:C:2023:1010 , paragraph  142 and the case-law cited).", "paragraph_id": "para_314" }, { "text": "97", "paragraph_id": "para_315" }, { "text": "In the present case it will therefore be for the referring court, in the final analysis, to determine whether the RSTP rules at issue in the main proceedings meet those conditions, in the light of the arguments and evidence put forward by the parties. That being the case, the Court is in a position to provide the referring court, in the light of the material on the file before it and subject to verification by that court, with the following guidance.", "paragraph_id": "para_316" }, { "text": "(a)   Consideration of the pursuit of a legitimate objective in the public interest", "paragraph_id": "para_317" }, { "text": "98", "paragraph_id": "para_318" }, { "text": "FIFA, joined by the URBSFA, claims that the RSTP rules at issue in the main proceedings pursue a number of objectives consisting, first, in maintaining contractual stability and the stability of professional football club teams; second, in preserving, more broadly, the integrity, regularity and prop …", "paragraph_id": "para_319" }, { "text": "99", "paragraph_id": "para_320" }, { "text": "In that regard, in the first place, as regards the protection of workers, it should be observed, first, that the protection of workers is not among the objectives of FIFA, as defined in its Statutes and, second, nor was that private law association entrusted by the public authorities with any partic …", "paragraph_id": "para_321" }, { "text": "100", "paragraph_id": "para_322" }, { "text": "In the second place, having regard to the objectives which FIFA sets for itself, as specified in Article 2 of its Statutes and referred to in paragraph 3 of the present judgment, it should be observed, first of all, that the objective consisting in ensuring the regularity of sporting competitions is …", "paragraph_id": "para_323" }, { "text": "101", "paragraph_id": "para_324" }, { "text": "Next, that objective is of particular importance in the case of football, in view of the essential role afforded to sporting merit in the conduct of competitions organised at both European and national level. That essential role can be guaranteed only if all the numerous teams taking part face each …", "paragraph_id": "para_325" }, { "text": "102", "paragraph_id": "para_326" }, { "text": "Lastly, since the composition of the teams constitutes one of the essential parameters of the competitions in which clubs compete (judgment of 21 December 2023, Royal Antwerp Football Club, C‑680/21 , EU:C:2023:1010 , paragraph  61 ), that objective is capable of justifying the adoption not only of …", "paragraph_id": "para_327" }, { "text": "(b)   Consideration of the observance of the principle of proportionality", "paragraph_id": "para_328" }, { "text": "103", "paragraph_id": "para_329" }, { "text": "As follows from the preceding paragraph of the present judgment and as observed by the Advocate General in point 65 of his Opinion, the rules of the RSTP at issue in the main proceedings, as characterised in paragraph 74 of the present judgment and referred to in paragraphs 87 to 90 above, may all b …", "paragraph_id": "para_330" }, { "text": "104", "paragraph_id": "para_331" }, { "text": "On the other hand, subject to the verifications to be carried out by the referring court, those different rules seem, in a number of aspects, to go beyond, indeed, in some cases, far beyond, what is necessary to achieve that objective, a fortiori because they are intended to apply, to a large extent …", "paragraph_id": "para_332" }, { "text": "105", "paragraph_id": "para_333" }, { "text": "In the first place, that is the case of Article 17, paragraph 1 of the RSTP, in that it sets the various criteria for the calculation of the compensation payable by the player where the unilateral breach of the employment contract takes place ‘without just cause’, an expression which, moreover, is not precisely defined in the regulations themselves.", "paragraph_id": "para_334" }, { "text": "106", "paragraph_id": "para_335" }, { "text": "In particular, the first criterion, which consists, in essence, in the possibility that ‘the law of the country concerned’ will be taken into account, does not guarantee actual observance of that law. On the contrary, the official Commentary on the RSTP published by FIFA states that in reality the f …", "paragraph_id": "para_336" }, { "text": "107", "paragraph_id": "para_337" }, { "text": "The other criteria expressly provided for in that rule, while being prima facie more objective and more readily verifiable than the preceding criteria, nevertheless also appear to go very significantly beyond what is necessary for that purpose. First, the remuneration and other benefits due to the p …", "paragraph_id": "para_338" }, { "text": "108", "paragraph_id": "para_339" }, { "text": "In the second place, that also holds true prima facie for Article 17, paragraph 2 of the RSTP in that it provides, as a matter of principle and therefore without taking account, in accordance with the principle of proportionality, of the particular circumstances of each case (see, to that effect, ju …", "paragraph_id": "para_340" }, { "text": "109", "paragraph_id": "para_341" }, { "text": "In the third place, that also holds true for Article 17, paragraph 4 of the RSTP in that it provides that, in addition to being jointly and severally liable for payment of such compensation, the new club is to be presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, to have induced that player to breac …", "paragraph_id": "para_342" }, { "text": "110", "paragraph_id": "para_343" }, { "text": "Such a sporting sanction, which the bodies competent to apply it do not have the power to adapt on a case-by-case basis according to specific criteria or circumstances, appears, in the light of its nature and its consequences, manifestly to bear no relation of proportionality to the breach attribute …", "paragraph_id": "para_344" }, { "text": "111", "paragraph_id": "para_345" }, { "text": "Furthermore, while it is permissible for an association such as FIFA to provide for sanctions to be imposed in the event of a breach of the rules which it adopts, provided that those rules and the sanctions intended to ensure compliance therewith are justified by the pursuit of a legitimate objectiv …", "paragraph_id": "para_346" }, { "text": "112", "paragraph_id": "para_347" }, { "text": "In the fourth and last place, that also holds true for Article 8.2.7 of Annexe 3 to the RSTP in that it prohibits the former association, generally and automatically, subject to exceptional circumstances, from issuing an ITC if the former club and the player are in a contractual dispute involving th …", "paragraph_id": "para_348" }, { "text": "113", "paragraph_id": "para_349" }, { "text": "Hence, the prohibition at issue cannot be justified by what is alleged to be the wish to ensure the proper conduct of sporting competitions. That conclusion, moreover, is not called into question by FIFA’s argument that, where an application to register a player is submitted by the new national foot …", "paragraph_id": "para_350" }, { "text": "3.   Conclusion", "paragraph_id": "para_351" }, { "text": "114", "paragraph_id": "para_352" }, { "text": "In the light of all of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the question referred for a preliminary ruling, in so far as it relates to the interpretation of Article 45 TFEU, is that that article must be interpreted as precluding rules which have been adopted by a private law association whose objectives include, inter alia, the regulation, organisation and control of football at world level, and which provide:", "paragraph_id": "para_353" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_354" }, { "text": "first, that a professional player who is party to an employment contract and is deemed to have terminated that contract without just cause, and the new club which employs him or her following that termination, are to be jointly and severally liable for payment of compensation due to the former club …", "paragraph_id": "para_355" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_356" }, { "text": "second, that, where the employment of the professional player occurs during a protected period under the employment contract which has been terminated, the new club is to incur a sporting sanction consisting in a ban on registering new players during a specific period, unless it demonstrates that it did not induce the player to breach that contract; and", "paragraph_id": "para_357" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_358" }, { "text": "third, that the existence of a dispute relating to that breach of contract is to prevent the national football association of which the former club is a member from issuing the ITC necessary for that player to be registered at the new club, with the consequence that the player cannot participate in football competitions for the new club;", "paragraph_id": "para_359" }, { "text": "unless it is established that those rules, as interpreted and applied on the territory of the European Union, do not go beyond what is necessary for the pursuit of the objective consisting in ensuring the regularity of interclub football competitions, while maintaining a certain degree of stability in the player rosters of the professional football clubs.", "paragraph_id": "para_360" }, { "text": "C.\n  \n The question referred for a preliminary ruling in so far as it relates to the interpretation of Article 101 TFEU", "paragraph_id": "para_361" }, { "text": "1.   Consideration of Article 101(1) TFEU", "paragraph_id": "para_362" }, { "text": "115", "paragraph_id": "para_363" }, { "text": "Article 101(1) TFEU prohibits all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which may affect trade between Member States and which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the internal market.", "paragraph_id": "para_364" }, { "text": "116", "paragraph_id": "para_365" }, { "text": "The Court has consistently held that the application of that provision in a particular case requires that a set of conditions be satisfied.", "paragraph_id": "para_366" }, { "text": "(a)   Consideration of the concepts of ‘undertakings’ and ‘associations of undertakings’", "paragraph_id": "para_367" }, { "text": "117", "paragraph_id": "para_368" }, { "text": "Article 101(1) TFEU applies not only to any entity engaged in an economic activity that must, as such, be categorised as an ‘undertaking’, irrespective of its legal form and the way in which it is financed, including entitles that are established in the form of associations which, according to their …", "paragraph_id": "para_369" }, { "text": "118", "paragraph_id": "para_370" }, { "text": "In the present case, given the subject matter of the main proceedings and the referring court’s statements, the Court finds that Article 101(1) TFEU applies to FIFA in its capacity as an association having as members national football associations which can themselves be categorised as ‘undertakings …", "paragraph_id": "para_371" }, { "text": "(b)   Consideration of the concept of ‘decision by an association of undertakings’", "paragraph_id": "para_372" }, { "text": "119", "paragraph_id": "para_373" }, { "text": "The application of Article 101(1) TFEU in a situation involving entities such as FIFA entails proving the existence of an ‘agreement’, ‘concerted practice’ or ‘[decision by an association] of undertakings’, which themselves may be of different kinds and present in different forms. In particular, a d …", "paragraph_id": "para_374" }, { "text": "120", "paragraph_id": "para_375" }, { "text": "In the present case, as follows from the statements provided in the order for reference and from paragraph 81 of the present judgment, it is with regard to those kinds of decisions that the referring court questions the Court about the interpretation of Article 101(1) TFEU, namely those consisting, for FIFA, in having adopted and implemented or being capable of implementing a set of rules relating to the employment contracts and transfers of players.", "paragraph_id": "para_376" }, { "text": "121", "paragraph_id": "para_377" }, { "text": "Such decisions by associations of undertakings therefore come under Article 101(1) TFEU.", "paragraph_id": "para_378" }, { "text": "(c)   Consideration of the concept of ‘effect on trade between Member States’", "paragraph_id": "para_379" }, { "text": "122", "paragraph_id": "para_380" }, { "text": "The application of Article 101(1) TFEU in a situation involving such decisions of associations of undertakings entails establishing, with a sufficient degree of probability, that they are ‘capable of having an appreciable effect on trade between Member States’, by having an influence, direct or indi …", "paragraph_id": "para_381" }, { "text": "123", "paragraph_id": "para_382" }, { "text": "In the present case, that condition is clearly fulfilled, having regard to the fact that, as stated in Article 1, paragraph 1 of the RSTP, the geographic scope of the rules established by those regulations is ‘global’.", "paragraph_id": "para_383" }, { "text": "(d)   Consideration of the concept of conduct having as its ‘object’ or ‘effect’ the restriction of competition", "paragraph_id": "para_384" }, { "text": "124", "paragraph_id": "para_385" }, { "text": "In order to find, in a given case, that an agreement, decision by an association of undertakings or a concerted practice is caught by the prohibition laid down in Article 101(1) TFEU, it is necessary to demonstrate, in accordance with the very wording of that provision, either that that conduct has …", "paragraph_id": "para_386" }, { "text": "125", "paragraph_id": "para_387" }, { "text": "To that end, it is appropriate to begin by examining the object of the conduct in question. If, at the end of that examination, that conduct proves to have an anticompetitive object, it is not necessary to examine its effect on competition. Thus, it is only if that conduct is found not to have an an …", "paragraph_id": "para_388" }, { "text": "126", "paragraph_id": "para_389" }, { "text": "According to the settled case-law of the Court, the concept of anticompetitive ‘object’, whilst not an exception in relation to the concept of anticompetitive ‘effect’, must nevertheless be interpreted strictly (judgment of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company, C‑333/21 , EU:C:2023:1011 , paragraph  161 and the case-law cited).", "paragraph_id": "para_390" }, { "text": "127", "paragraph_id": "para_391" }, { "text": "Thus, that concept must be interpreted as referring solely to certain types of coordination between undertakings which reveal a sufficient degree of harm to competition for the view to be taken that it is not necessary to assess their effects. Indeed, certain types of coordination between undertakin …", "paragraph_id": "para_392" }, { "text": "128", "paragraph_id": "para_393" }, { "text": "That is the case, inter alia, of certain types of horizontal agreements other than cartels, such as those leading to competing undertakings being excluded from the market, or certain types of decisions by associations of undertakings (judgment of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company, C‑333/21 , EU:C:2023:1011 , paragraph  164 and the case-law cited).", "paragraph_id": "para_394" }, { "text": "129", "paragraph_id": "para_395" }, { "text": "As is apparent from Article 101(1)(a) and (c) TFEU, which refers, in particular, to the fixing of ‘purchase or selling prices’ or the sharing of ‘markets or sources of supply’, such cartels, such horizontal agreements and such decisions by associations of undertakings may concern not only the goods …", "paragraph_id": "para_396" }, { "text": "130", "paragraph_id": "para_397" }, { "text": "In order to determine, in a given case, whether an agreement, a decision by an association of undertakings or a concerted practice reveals, by its very nature, a sufficient degree of harm to competition that it may be considered as having as its object the prevention, restriction or distortion there …", "paragraph_id": "para_398" }, { "text": "131", "paragraph_id": "para_399" }, { "text": "In that regard, first of all, in the economic and legal context of which the conduct in question forms a part, it is necessary to take into consideration the nature of the products or services concerned, as well as the real conditions of the structure and functioning of the sector(s) or market(s) in …", "paragraph_id": "para_400" }, { "text": "132", "paragraph_id": "para_401" }, { "text": "Next, as regards the objectives pursued by the conduct in question, a determination must be made of the objective aims which that conduct seeks to achieve from a competition standpoint. Nevertheless, the fact that the undertakings involved acted without having a subjective intention to prevent, rest …", "paragraph_id": "para_402" }, { "text": "133", "paragraph_id": "para_403" }, { "text": "Lastly, the taking into consideration of all of the aspects referred to in the three preceding paragraphs of the present judgment must, at any rate, show the precise reasons why the conduct in question reveals a sufficient degree of harm to competition such as to justify a finding that it has as its …", "paragraph_id": "para_404" }, { "text": "134", "paragraph_id": "para_405" }, { "text": "In the present case, as regards, in the first place, the content of the RSTP rules at issue in the main proceedings, it follows from paragraphs 87 to 90 of the present judgment that those various rules, which present as an indivisible whole and must therefore be construed as such, provide, first of …", "paragraph_id": "para_406" }, { "text": "135", "paragraph_id": "para_407" }, { "text": "It must be borne in mind, in that regard, that the first of those criteria, relating to the ‘law of the country concerned’, has thus far in practice been virtually ignored, as observed in paragraph 106 of the present judgment, and that the second of those criteria, relating to the ‘specificity of sp …", "paragraph_id": "para_408" }, { "text": "136", "paragraph_id": "para_409" }, { "text": "Next, any player against whom his or her former club initiates proceedings before the DRC seeking an order for payment of the compensation in question, alleging that the employment contract between them was terminated without just cause, is automatically, for that reason alone and subject to excepti …", "paragraph_id": "para_410" }, { "text": "137", "paragraph_id": "para_411" }, { "text": "Lastly, any new club employing such a player would, for that reason alone, first, be held jointly and severally liable for payment of the compensation which that player has been or might be ordered to pay; second, be presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, to have induced that player to b …", "paragraph_id": "para_412" }, { "text": "138", "paragraph_id": "para_413" }, { "text": "As observed, in essence, by the Advocate General in points 52 to 55 of his Opinion, it is clear on a combined reading of the rules of the RSTP at issue in the main proceedings, first, that they are such as to constitute a generalised and drastic restriction, from a substantive viewpoint, of the comp …", "paragraph_id": "para_414" }, { "text": "139", "paragraph_id": "para_415" }, { "text": "Indeed, unless the consent of the former club is obtained in the context of a negotiated transfer, the mere fact of employing such a player exposes the new club to the risk of being held jointly and severally liable for payment of a potentially very large amount of compensation. In addition, the amo …", "paragraph_id": "para_416" }, { "text": "140", "paragraph_id": "para_417" }, { "text": "Furthermore, that generalised and drastic restriction of cross-border competition between clubs in the form of the unilateral recruitment of players who are already employed, and therefore of access by clubs to the essence of the ‘resources’ represented by players, extends, from a geographic viewpoi …", "paragraph_id": "para_418" }, { "text": "141", "paragraph_id": "para_419" }, { "text": "Having regard to all of those characteristics, that restriction thus ensures, in practice, that each club is certain, or virtually certain, that it will be able to keep its own players for as long as the contract or succession of contracts concluded with them has not reached its term or, before it d …", "paragraph_id": "para_420" }, { "text": "142", "paragraph_id": "para_421" }, { "text": "As regards, in the second place, the economic and legal context surrounding the RSTP rules at issue in the main proceedings, it should be borne in mind, first of all, that, given the specific nature of the ‘products’ which sporting competitions constitute from an economic point of view, associations …", "paragraph_id": "para_422" }, { "text": "143", "paragraph_id": "para_423" }, { "text": "As regards, more specifically, football and the economic activities to which the exercise of that sport gives rise, it is legitimate for an association such as FIFA to subject the organisation and conduct of international competitions to common rules intended to guarantee the homogeneity and coordin …", "paragraph_id": "para_424" }, { "text": "144", "paragraph_id": "para_425" }, { "text": "In that context, since the annual or seasonal conduct of interclub professional football competitions is based, in the European Union, on matches between and gradual elimination of the participating teams and since it is therefore essentially based on sporting merit, which can be guaranteed only if …", "paragraph_id": "para_426" }, { "text": "145", "paragraph_id": "para_427" }, { "text": "However, the specificity of football and the actual conditions of the functioning of the market constituted, from an economic standpoint, by the organisation and marketing of interclub professional football competitions, cannot mean that it must be accepted that any possibility for clubs to engage i …", "paragraph_id": "para_428" }, { "text": "146", "paragraph_id": "para_429" }, { "text": "Ultimately, such rules, even if they are presented as being intended to prevent player-poaching practices by clubs with greater financial means, can be treated as being equivalent to a general, absolute and permanent ban on the unilateral recruitment of players who are already employed, imposed by d …", "paragraph_id": "para_430" }, { "text": "147", "paragraph_id": "para_431" }, { "text": "As regards, in the third and last place, the objective aim which the rules at issue in the main proceedings seek to attain from a competition standpoint, it follows from the preceding considerations that, irrespective of the subjective intention or the legitimate objectives that may have inspired or …", "paragraph_id": "para_432" }, { "text": "148", "paragraph_id": "para_433" }, { "text": "Thus, the examination of the content of the rules at issue in the main proceedings, of the economic and legal context of which they form part and of the objective aims which they seek to attain reveals that those rules present, by their very nature, a high degree of harm to the competition in which …", "paragraph_id": "para_434" }, { "text": "(e)   Consideration of the possibility of finding certain specific conduct not to come within the scope of Article 101(1) TFEU", "paragraph_id": "para_435" }, { "text": "149", "paragraph_id": "para_436" }, { "text": "According to the settled case-law of the Court, not every agreement between undertakings or decision by an association of undertakings which restricts the freedom of action of the undertakings party to that agreement or subject to compliance with that decision necessarily falls within the prohibitio …", "paragraph_id": "para_437" }, { "text": "150", "paragraph_id": "para_438" }, { "text": "However, that case-law does not apply in situations involving conduct which, far from merely having the inherent ‘effect’ of restricting competition, at least potentially, by limiting the freedom of action of certain undertakings, reveals a degree of harm that justifies a finding that it has as its …", "paragraph_id": "para_439" }, { "text": "151", "paragraph_id": "para_440" }, { "text": "As regards conduct having as its object the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition, it is thus only if Article 101(3) TFEU applies and all of the conditions provided for in that provision are observed that it may be granted the benefit of an exemption from the prohibition laid down in …", "paragraph_id": "para_441" }, { "text": "152", "paragraph_id": "para_442" }, { "text": "In the present case, having regard to the considerations set out in paragraphs 134 to 148 of the present judgment, the Court finds that the case-law referred to in paragraph 149 of the present judgment is not applicable in a situation involving rules such as those at issue in the main proceedings.", "paragraph_id": "para_443" }, { "text": "2.   Consideration of Article 101(3) TFEU", "paragraph_id": "para_444" }, { "text": "153", "paragraph_id": "para_445" }, { "text": "It follows from the very wording of Article 101(3) TFEU that any agreement, decision by associations of undertakings or concerted practice which proves to be contrary to Article 101(1) TFEU, whether by reason of its anticompetitive object or effect, may be exempted if it satisfies all of the conditi …", "paragraph_id": "para_446" }, { "text": "154", "paragraph_id": "para_447" }, { "text": "Under Article 101(3) TFEU, that exemption in a given case is subject to four cumulative conditions. First, it must be demonstrated with a sufficient degree of probability that the agreement, decision by an association of undertakings or concerted practice in question makes it possible to achieve eff …", "paragraph_id": "para_448" }, { "text": "155", "paragraph_id": "para_449" }, { "text": "Non-observance of one of those four cumulative conditions suffices to rule out the possibility that the conduct at issue may come within the exemption provided for in Article 101(3) TFEU (judgment of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company, C‑333/21 , EU:C:2023:1011 , paragraph  208 ).", "paragraph_id": "para_450" }, { "text": "156", "paragraph_id": "para_451" }, { "text": "In that respect, as regards the third condition, to the effect that the conduct at issue must be indispensable or necessary, it involves an assessment and comparison of the respective impact of that conduct and of the alternative measures which might genuinely be envisaged, with a view to determinin …", "paragraph_id": "para_452" }, { "text": "157", "paragraph_id": "para_453" }, { "text": "In order to determine whether that third condition is observed in this instance, the referring court will have to take into consideration, first, the fact, referred to in paragraphs 105 to 112 of the present judgment, that the RSTP rules at issue in the main proceedings are characterised by a combin …", "paragraph_id": "para_454" }, { "text": "3.   Conclusion", "paragraph_id": "para_455" }, { "text": "158", "paragraph_id": "para_456" }, { "text": "In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the question referred for a preliminary ruling, in so far as it concerns the interpretation of Article 101 TFEU, is that that article must be interpreted as meaning that rules which were adopted by a private law association whose objectives include, inter alia, the regulation, organisation and control of football at world level and which provide:", "paragraph_id": "para_457" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_458" }, { "text": "first, that a professional player who is party to an employment contract and is deemed to have terminated that contract without just cause, and the new club which employs him or her following that termination, are to be jointly and severally liable for payment of compensation due to the former club …", "paragraph_id": "para_459" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_460" }, { "text": "second, that, where the employment of the professional player occurs during a protected period under the employment contract which has been terminated, the new club is to incur a sporting sanction consisting in a ban on registering new players during a specific period, unless it demonstrates that it did not induce the player to breach that contract; and", "paragraph_id": "para_461" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_462" }, { "text": "third, that the existence of a dispute relating to that breach of contract is to prevent the national football association of which the former club is a member from issuing the ITC necessary for that player to be registered at the new club, with the consequence that the player cannot participate in football competitions for the new club;", "paragraph_id": "para_463" }, { "text": "constitute a decision by an association of undertakings which is prohibited by paragraph 1 of that article and which cannot be exempted under paragraph 3 of that article unless it is demonstrated, through convincing arguments and evidence, that all of the conditions required for that purpose are satisfied.", "paragraph_id": "para_464" }, { "text": "Costs", "paragraph_id": "para_465" }, { "text": "159", "paragraph_id": "para_466" }, { "text": "Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the referring court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.", "paragraph_id": "para_467" }, { "text": "On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby rules:", "paragraph_id": "para_468" }, { "text": "1.", "paragraph_id": "para_469" }, { "text": "Article 45 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding rules which have been adopted by a private law association whose objectives include, inter alia, the regulation, organisation and control of football at world level, and which provide:", "paragraph_id": "para_470" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_471" }, { "text": "first, that a professional player who is party to an employment contract and is deemed to have terminated that contract without just cause, and the new club which employs him or her following that termination, are to be jointly and severally liable for payment of compensation due to the former club …", "paragraph_id": "para_472" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_473" }, { "text": "second, that, where the employment of the professional player occurs during a protected period under the employment contract which has been terminated, the new club is to incur a sporting sanction consisting in a ban on registering new players during a specific period, unless it demonstrates that it did not induce the player to breach that contract; and", "paragraph_id": "para_474" }, { "text": "–", "paragraph_id": "para_475" }, { "text": "third, that the existence of a dispute relating to that breach of contract is to prevent the national football association of which the former club is a member from issuing the ITC necessary for that player to be registered at the new club, with the consequence that the player cannot participate in football competitions for the new club;", "paragraph_id": "para_476" }, { "text": "unless it is established that those rules, as interpreted and applied on the territory of the European Union, do not go beyond what is necessary for the pursuit of the objective consisting in ensuring the regularity of interclub football competitions, while maintaining a certain degree of stability in the player rosters of the professional football clubs.", "paragraph_id": "para_477" }, { "text": "2.", "paragraph_id": "para_478" }, { "text": "Article 101 TFEU must be interpreted as meaning that such rules constitute a decision by an association of undertakings which is prohibited by paragraph 1 of that article and which cannot be exempted under paragraph 3 of that article unless it is demonstrated, through convincing arguments and evidence, that all of the conditions required for that purpose are satisfied.", "paragraph_id": "para_479" }, { "text": "[Signatures]", "paragraph_id": "para_480" }, { "text": "(\n *1\n ) Language of the case: French.", "paragraph_id": "para_481" }, { "text": "(\n i\n ) The wording of paragraph 77 of this document has been amended since it was first put online.", "paragraph_id": "para_482" } ], "word_count": 19295, "cites": [ "C-415/93", "C-61/14", "C-333/21", "C-680/21", "C-176/96", "C-325/08", "C-384/17", "C-176/19", "C-438/22" ], "sha256": "c608ddf84cf0090e1ddb66b25b8c7bbe94d4d696656f9e0192ed8a0bf4e5aeec", "source_url": "https://publications.europa.eu/resource/celex/62022CJ0650.ENG.xhtml.ECR_62022CJ0650_EN_01.html", "fetched_at": "2026-09-30T04:48:15.577+00:00", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/ai/judgments/eu/c-650-22-62022cj0650", "risk_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/risk?id=eu:c-650-22-62022cj0650", "relations_graph": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/relations?id=eu:c-650-22-62022cj0650", "changes": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/eu-praxis/changes", "agent": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/eu-praxis/agent?id=eu:c-650-22-62022cj0650" }, "hash": "sha256:facba5409638a6d589e44883cae58a1d08b9e4a0c8c508c56069f5cb6aaa154e", "version": "legal-2026-10-13", "expires": "2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z", "dependency": { "index_version": "legal-2026-10-13+legal-2026-10-13+2026-10-13T12:55:18", "content_hash": "sha256:facba5409638a6d589e44883cae58a1d08b9e4a0c8c508c56069f5cb6aaa154e", "revalidate_after": "2026-10-13T14:22:37.327Z", "max_copy_age_seconds": 3600, "policy": "revalidate-required; 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