Lassana Diarra affair: the transfer market could disappear, the reasons

With the Lassana Diarra affair, the whole of international football could be turned upside down.

A former French international who played for PSG and OM, Lassana Diarra was an excellent midfielder during his football career. His time at OM was marked by a blank year due to a contract dispute with his former club Lokomotiv Moscow. After several years of a very long case, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a highly anticipated decision this Friday, October 4. The Court of Justice has ruled that FIFA's rules on player transfers infringe European Union law. “The rules in question are likely to hinder the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club.” CCertain FIFA rules governing transfers between clubs are “contrary” to European Union law and “likely to hinder the free movement” of professional footballers. The court considers that they “impose on these players and on the clubs wishing to engage them significant legal risks, unpredictable and potentially very high financial risks as well as major sporting risks, which, taken together, are likely to hinder the international transfer of players“. These same disputed rules “are intended to restrict, or even prevent, cross-border competition in which all professional football clubs established in the Union could engage“. “The possibility of competing by recruiting already trained players plays an essential role in this sector“, adds the Luxembourg Court in its judgment.

“For Lassana Diarra, who dared challenge the all-powerful FIFA (and incidentally the Belgian Football Federation) and who has been waging a legal battle for 10 years (with the support of FIFPRO, FIFPRO Europe and the UNFP for the last 3 years), it is a total victory” his lawyers said.

Explanations of the case

Let's first go back to the basics of this dispute. In 2014, Lassana Diarra wanted to leave his club as regularly happens for professional players, but was blocked by his club at the time, Lokomotiv Moscow. Problem, the Frenchman must submit to the regulations on the status and transfer of players (RSTJ) issued by FIFA. In detail and in simple words, a footballer simply has the impossibility of leaving a club where he is engaged, except pay his salary until the end of the contract. Any club that seeks to hire him may be jointly and severally liable to pay this salary, as well as various costs. The recruiting club is also exposed to sporting sanctions that can go as far as a ban on recruiting…

Consequently, it is difficult for a player to leave the club in question and for the one who wants to have the player, this can condemn entire seasons. If for some this seems like an injustice, it is simply what allows clubs to carry out financial operations to sell players. If the conflict is significant, players are put in what was called a loft like Kylian Mbappé not so long ago with PSG when he refused to extend. Unhappy, Lassana Diarra had therefore launched a long legal battle against this regulation and Fifa which will have lasted almost 10 years.