practical cases in football law

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PRACTICAL CASES IN FOOTBALL LAW

DIPLOMA IN CLUBMANAGEMENT

Dr. Miguel María García Caba

Deputy General SecretaryRoyal Spanish Football Federation

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01Introduction


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2016-18:

Head of Legal Services, Real Madrid CF.

2018-act:

Legal Director, Spanish Football Association (RFEF).

2005-16:

Legal Counsel and Head of Internal Legal Counsel, Spanish Professional Football League (LaLiga).

2019-act:

Deputy General Secretary, Spanish Football Association (RFEF).

Professional experience in football

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02Laliga’s perspective: CASE GRANADA 74

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A classical topic01

Sports Act (parliament regulation): 02

Royal Decrees (government regulations):03

Public intervention in professional sport (since 1941)…04


A little introduction to Spanish Sports Law…The organizat ion of profess ional sport in Spain

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DIPLOMA IN CLUBMANAGEMENTDIPLOMA IN CLUBMANAGEMENT

• Spanish Sports Law and Royal Decree 1835/1991

• Compulsory agreement (duration 4 years)…

Compulsory coordination

• Professional license – First professional license

• Transfer and registration rules (clubs, players) …

• Calendar …

Coordination Agreement LaLiga-RFEF:

The coordination between Leagues and Associations

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• In the summer 200, juridical debate in the CAS, between FIFA, UEFA, RFEF and LaLiga.

• The cause of the conflict was the analysis made by CAS.

• The conflict ended with a decision by CAS (2007/O/1361), which gave justice, from a sportive and legal point of view, to LaLiga.

The background of the case (1/3)Prev ious

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30.06.07. C.F. Ciudad de Murcia, SAD finished 4th in Spanish 2nd Div.

06.07.07. Agreement to sell its 100% of its social capital.

24.07.07. New owner decided to change the denomination: Granada 74, SAD

01.08.07. LaLiga admitted the club to participate in season 2007/08

09.08.07. LaLiga received a letter from FIFA’s and UEFA’s presidents

20.08.07. FIFA and UEFA invited LaLiga on a workshop.

No agreement

The background of the case (2/3)The facts

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21.08.07. RFEF referred the dispute to CAS.

22.08.07. LaLiga accepted under the following conditions:- Applicable law: shall be the Spanish law- The choice of Spanish law as applicable law, was unquestionable and had a fundamental importance in this case

24.08.07. The hearing took place.

25.08.07. Cádiz CF vs Granada 74, SAD (20.00h)…

The background of the case (3/3)The way to CAS, the appl icable law and the CAS hear ing

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IT IS ILLEGAL OR CONTRARY TO SPORTING PRINCIPLES

TO BUY A CLUB AND CHANGE

ITS NAME AND DOMICILE?

The main sources of law and key articles used to dealPrev ious: The quest ion

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• Art. 2.e), FIFA Statutes

• Art. 2.1 e), UEFA Statutes

• FIFA Statutes: Since LaLiga is subordinate to the RFEF

• Art. 18.2, FIFA Statutes

FIFA, UEFA and RFEF


• Art. 19.1 Sports Act

• Art. 4 RFEF Statutes

• Art. 41.4 a) Sports Act: The coordination between Leagues and NA

• Coordination Agreement LaLiga-RFEF 2006

LaLiga

The main sources of law and key articles used to deal …

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• “Hidden” promotion

• Violates a basic and fundamental principle in football

• Through sportive results in the field and not through operations of commercial or financial nature.

• international sport law

• European Model of Sport

FIFA, UEFA, RFEF

• There is no current legislature, which limits the change in the denomination and in the registered office

• Neither in the regulations of FIFA and UEFA

• The English Case (FC Wimbledon)

• AUS, CHI, MEX, USA rules

• C.P. Granada 74 is still participating in the 3rd Div.

LaLiga


The key arguments presented by the parties involved …

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Jurisdiction

Violation of arts. 2 of FIFA and UEFA Statutes

The Spanish Law

The International Sports Law


The outcome of the case: the CAS decision

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The CAS resolution plainly ratified the

conformity to the Law of the acts carried out

by LaLiga


ConclusionsFrom a str ict ly jur id ica l point of v iew:

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Graphic 1: years of seniority of clubs Graphic 2: no. of federative licenses

Gráfico 2: Nº de licencias federativas

625

125

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1CP. Granada 74 C.F. Ciudad de Murcia, SAD

Gráfico 1: Años de antigüedad de los clubes

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9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

CP. Granada 74 C.F. Ciudad de Murcia, SAD

Graphic 3: no. of federative clubs, federative or dependent

Gráfico 3: Nª de clubes federativos filiares o dependientes

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Senior Juveniles Cadetes Infantiles Alevines Benjamines

CP. Granada 74 C.F. Ciudad de Murcia, SAD

Senior Junior Cadet Children Young Small

Conclusions. from a strictly FOOTBALL point of view:

Granada 74 is a historical club set up in 1974 by comparison to 1999, with

social and sportive roots and absolutely dedicated to the game.

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Comparativetableoftheclubs

CP. Granada 74 C.F. Ciudad de Murcia,

SAD Year of foundation 1974 1999

No. of federative clubs branches or dependent 25 5

senior 1(3rd division) 2 junior 4 2 cadets 5 1

children 5 - young 5 - small 5 -

No. of federative licenses 625 125 Sportive schools 1 the greatest in the province - Sportive history More than 1000 trophies ( 28 T. 06/07)

-

The entity in Andalusia that has the greatest number of trophies in inferior

categories Award for the best sportive entity in

Andalusia, 1988 (Council of Andalucía)

Conclusions. from a strictly FOOTBALL point of view:

Granada 74 is a historical club set up in 1974 by comparison to 1999, with

social and sportive roots and absolutely dedicated to the game.

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• Granada is a region that “breathes” football

• CAS understood that the operation was for the good of social and sportive value

• National law is still above sports law and especially above international sports law

• Granada totally ignored the national regulations and laws passed by the State and the agreement signed in 2006.

CONCLUSIONS

My own interpretation. Conclusions

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03The club’s perspective: REGISTRATION OF MINORS


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• 2016 conflict that caused an interesting juridical debate in the CAS, between FIFA, RFEF and RelMadrid CF

• Spain is composed of 17 regions (CCAA)• The Spanish Constitution competences to regulate on different fields.• Each “CCAA” has its own regional FA• Each RA organizes its own championship • each club has to mandatorily affiliate to the RA


Introduction

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• SPANISH SPORTS LAW ACT (10/1990)…

Article 32.4 (regulation of sports licenses)

• RD SPANISH FEDERATIONS (1835/1991)

Article 7 (regulation of professional sport licenses)

Additional disposition (conflicts)

Legal frameworkPubl ic regulat ion

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• SPANISH ACT AGAINST VIOLENCE, RACISM, XENOPHOBIA AND INTOLERANCE IN SPORT)

Second additional provision

Legal frameworkPubl ic regulat ion

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10 III. Registration of players

5 Registration

1. A player must be registered at an association to play for a club as either a professionaloranamateurinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofarticle 2.Onlyregistered players are eligible to participate in organised football. By the act ofregistering,aplayeragreestoabidebythestatutesandregulationsofFIFA,the confederations and the associations.

2. A player may only be registered with one club at a time.

3. Players may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during one season. Duringthisperiod,theplayerisonlyeligibletoplayofficialmatchesfortwoclubs.Asanexceptiontothisrule,aplayermovingbetweentwoclubsbelonging to associations with overlapping seasons (i.e. start of the season in summer/autumnasopposedtowinter/spring)maybeeligibletoplayinofficialmatchesforathirdclubduringtherelevantseason,providedhehasfullycompliedwithhiscontractualobligationstowardshispreviousclubs.Equally,theprovisionsrelatingtotheregistrationperiods(article 6)aswellastotheminimumlengthofacontract(article 18paragraph 2)mustberespected.

4. Underallcircumstances,dueconsiderationmustbegiventothesportingintegrityofthecompetition.Inparticular,aplayermaynotplayofficialmatches for more than two clubs competing in the same national championshiporcupduringthesameseason,subjecttostricterindividualcompetition regulations of member associations.

FIFA REGULATIONS & SPANISH LAW

Legal frameworkFIFA regulat ion

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ARTICLE 5 RSTP VS. SPORT COMPETENCE DISTRIBUTION

• Players must be registered at a FIFA member• FIFA does not recognise a registration at a regional

association• Regions in Spain have absolute competence in sport• Only Regional FA are entitled to register players at

regional competitions.• No intervention of Spanish public power nor of the RFEF

in regional competitions


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10 III. Registration of players

5 Registration

1. A player must be registered at an association to play for a club as either a professionaloranamateurinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofarticle 2.Onlyregistered players are eligible to participate in organised football. By the act ofregistering,aplayeragreestoabidebythestatutesandregulationsofFIFA,the confederations and the associations.

2. A player may only be registered with one club at a time.

3. Players may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during one season. Duringthisperiod,theplayerisonlyeligibletoplayofficialmatchesfortwoclubs.Asanexceptiontothisrule,aplayermovingbetweentwoclubsbelonging to associations with overlapping seasons (i.e. start of the season in summer/autumnasopposedtowinter/spring)maybeeligibletoplayinofficialmatchesforathirdclubduringtherelevantseason,providedhehasfullycompliedwithhiscontractualobligationstowardshispreviousclubs.Equally,theprovisionsrelatingtotheregistrationperiods(article 6)aswellastotheminimumlengthofacontract(article 18paragraph 2)mustberespected.

4. Underallcircumstances,dueconsiderationmustbegiventothesportingintegrityofthecompetition.Inparticular,aplayermaynotplayofficialmatches for more than two clubs competing in the same national championshiporcupduringthesameseason,subjecttostricterindividualcompetition regulations of member associations.

FIFA REGULATIONS & SPANISH LAW


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CAS 2014/A/3793 FC Barcelona vs FIFA

CAS 2016/A/4785Real Madrid Club de Fútbol vs FIFA

CAS 2016/A/4805 Club Atlético de Madrid vs FIFAPNISH CASE

The key arguments presented by the parties involved Main controvers ia l i ssues

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Violation of Art.5 RSTP and the issue of the Spanish Licensing

system

Art.19 and the alleged exception of under 12 years old players (U -

12)

Violation of Art.19bis RSTP and the

concept of “academy”

The key arguments presented by the parties involved Main controvers ia l i ssues


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“A player must be registered at an association to play for a club as either Professional or an amateur in accordance with the provisions of article. Only registered players are eligible to participate in organized Football”

The Spanish territorial system01

The concept of “association” in the RSTP 02

The key arguments presented by the parties involved Registrat ion of minors in Spain

Article 5 RSTP

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• In all three cases the CAS Panels agreed that the term “Association” contained in article 5 RSTP refers to NA that are members of FIFA. In Spain, the RFEF.

• Therefore, the RA cannot be considered as an “association” in the sense of the aforesaid article.

• Elements idiosyncratic to Spanish Law regarding the registration process. • The clubs cannot be held responsible for that breach.• In RM case the Sole Arbitrator considered that there was no breach of article 5 RSTP • The Sole Arbitrator made clear that “this applies, at least, for the FFM and […] not all Spanish

cases

The outcome of the case: the CAS decisionRegistrat ion of minors in Spain

ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 RSTP

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• 1 Player (+16 and from EU) was “provisionally registered” prior to obtaining the Sub-Committee’s approval and the ITC.

• 1 Player (non-Spanish national that had always lived in Spain) was registered within the FFM prior to obtaining of the Sub-Committee’s approval.

2 out of 8 cases were found to constitute a violation of Art. 19 RSTP by the CAS

• 4 players aged under 12 TBA

• 2 players that only trained with the club (trial period) and never participated in organized football.

6 out of 8 cases were found not to constitute a violation of Art. 19 RSTP by the CAS:

The outcome of the case: the CAS decisionAl leged v io lat ion of ar t ic le 19 RSTP

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The outcome of the case: the CAS decisionUnder 12 years o ld p layers

• In the RM case the SA analyzed in depth the issue and concluded that RM did not commit any RSTP violation under Art. 19 RSTP

• Distinction with FCB/ATM

Different approach by the CAS Panels with respect to this issue

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• The resource is estimated and the RFEF is ordered to proceed, immediately, to issue a sports license in favor of the minor

• "(...) Now, the application of the aforementioned FIFA rules must respect, in any case, the legal system in force in our country. In relation to this, it should be noted that there could be no possible conflict between the regulations of FIFA and the Spanish legal system.

• This determines that the FIFA rules must be fulfilled only by their associates, although they would become inapplicable in the event that they contradict the state legal order … Given the above, the requirements demanded by FIFA in the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players of FIFA would not be adjusted to our legal system, being sufficient to obtain the license requested from the RFEF ... being legally in Spain … " .

• And this is because we are not before an international organization of public law of which Spain is part, but rather we are before a private organization subject to Swiss law. In this case, a conflict can not be raised because the rules of FIFA may or may notcoincide with those of the Spanish legal system, but because the aforesaid entity can not be linked to a legal order of a sovereign State.

ConclusionsAnd the present and the future

Different approach by the CAS Panels with respect to this issue

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• FIFA’s TEST POSITIVE RESULT? … FIFA’s Regulations vs National Law.

• Players under the age of 12 (nowadays 10)

• Urgent need of revising/updating the regulations for protection of minors

• The CAS awards

• What happens after the CAS’ decisions? Regularization process, sanction, etc…

• The most important question: ARE THE MINORS PROTECTED?

Conclusions

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04The na’s perspective:

FRIDAY&MONDAY

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• National football association• Sole and exclusive governor of non-

professional football competitions• Regulations• Members

From 2019: Conflict between LaLiga and the RFEF

National Association in football: the RFEF

The organization of professional football in Spain

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• Private

• Established within the relevant Spanish sport association

• Not fully independent from their sports associations but have legal personality and autonomy in their internal organization and functioning

• Statutes and Regulations, to be approved by the “ConsejoSuperior de Deportes”

Main competences

ü Organization of its own competitions, in coordination with the corresponding national sports association and in accordance with the criteria that may be established by the National Sports Council to guarantee the fulfilment of national or international commitments.

ü Guidance, control and supervision of its members

ü Exercise of disciplinary authority.

The organization of professional football in SpainLeagues

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NA/Leagues can also play a public role, by exercising some public functions of an administrative nature that have been delegated to them by the governmental authorities (i.a. the exercise the disciplinary authority)

The organization of professional football in SpainNA&Leagues

When the NA/Leagues exercise a public competence, they are acting as Administrative Public Authorities, and its

decisions are subjected to the Administrative Law and to the Administrative Courts.

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• Private association organizing the Spanish professional football competitions in coordination with the RFEF.

• Members: clubs and SAD’s of the 1st and 2nd Division.

• Legal framework: Statutes and internal regulations.

Main competences

ü Organizing the professional football competitions

ü Exercising disciplinary authority according the relevant regulations

ü Exploiting of the competition’s commercial rights (direct or indirect channels)

ü Monitoring the internal financial control procedures (break-even rule)

ü Monitoring the stadiums control and security systems

The organization of professional football in SpainLeague in footbal l : LaL iga

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• Art. 41(4)(a),“Organise their own competitions in coordination with the relevant Spanish sports federation in accordance with any criteria the High Council of Sport may set to exclusively guarantee national or international commitments”.

One of the main problems

The act 10/1990 of 15 October on Sport and the RD on Federations are lacking in so far a scheme to distribute functions dealing with professional competition is concerned regarding each sports association.

The coordination between leagues and associationsInteract ion between Associat ions and Leagues: the Coordinat ion Agreements

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Coordination Agreement

The economic relations between the RFEF and LaLiga.

Agreement signed by both parties in order to regulate those areas in which both LaLiga and the Spanish FA can interfere.

It sets out the items for which LaLiga has to pay a sum of money each year:• Contribution for federation services and for the development of grassroots football

Agreement signed by both parties in order to regulate those areas in which both LaLiga and the Spanish FA can interfere.

The coordination between leagues and associations

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This agreement is signed every four or five years (3 July 2019):

• The annual sports calendar

• The promotions and relegations between professional and amateur competitions

• Conditions to recruit, register, and field foreign players.

• Refereeing and disciplinary matters

The coordination between leagues and associations

Coordination Agreement

This agreement is signed every four or five years (3 July 2019): • The annual sports calendar • The promotions and relegations between

professional and amateur competitions • Conditions to recruit, register, and field

foreign players.• Refereeing and disciplinary matters

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• Proposed by the LFP, in accordance with the colective bargaining agreement of players, and must be ratified by the RFEF.

• Coordination agreement 2010 and 2014: Matches on Friday and Monday… authorised by the RFEF

• Coordination agreement 2019: No regulation … ?????

The coordination between leagues and associationsCalendar and match schedule

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• Judgement Commercial Court 2 Madrid, 27th May 2020

• This conflict crystallized in court the 12th of July 2019

• Several actions under Law 3/1991, of January 10, on Unfair Competition (LCD) and Law 15/2007, of July 3, on Competition Law (LDC)

The RFEF and LaLiga must settle in good faith

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1. LNFP must be understood and coordinated with the RFEF for the organization of matches outside the official calendar

2. The parties had been negotiating agreements on the Championship calendar for years

3. Lack of evidence

The RFEF and LaLiga must settle in good faithThe Judgement

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Conclusions

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05Conclusions


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• Interaction is not precisely peaceful

• International vs national law conflicts are not always evitable

• To be resolved on a case by case basis

• Trend: international regulations tend to prevail over national

• The stakeholders can do more sometimes

• Frequent tendency to pragmatism


Conclusions

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Thank you !

practical cases in football law

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