Scandal in world football: FIFA may be forced to pay billions to players
5 August 14:47
FIFA may face a class action lawsuit worth billions of pounds from a group of current and former professional footballers due to the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which declared the organization’s transfer rules illegal. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to The Guardian.
The lawsuit is being prepared by the Dutch foundation Justice for Players, whose board includes former England assistant coach Franco Baldini.
Justice for Players is seeking compensation on behalf of players who have lost income due to FIFA transfer rules since 2002. According to her, the court case will affect about 100,000 players.
The group has already sent FIFA and the football federations of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark an official notice of intent to file a lawsuit.
The lawsuit relates to the period since 2002 – since then, according to the initiators, more than 100,000 players may have lost income due to the restrictions imposed by FIFA on transfers.
The lawsuit will be filed in the Netherlands
The lawsuit will be filed in the District Court of Midden-Netherlands. The jurisdiction was not chosen by chance – Dutch law allows for class action lawsuits to be filed by anyone who has worked within the EU or the UK.
The English Football Association also received a preliminary letter, although it is not yet officially a defendant. FIFA and the five national associations have until September to provide a formal response.
It all started with the case of Lassana Diarra
The proceedings began after the EU Court of Justice ruled in favor of former Chelsea and French national team player Lassana Diarra in 2023. In 2016, FIFA refused to issue him an international transfer certificate to join the Belgian club Charleroi, arguing that he had violated his contract with Lokomotiv Moscow.
FIFA fined Diarra €10.5 million and suspended him from football for 15 months. In response, the footballer filed a counterclaim. The CJEU found that FIFA’s rules violated EU competition law and freedom of movement of workers.
Players could have earned 8% more
According to economists at Compass Lexecon, football players could have earned 8% more over the course of their careers if not for FIFA’s restrictive transfer rules introduced in 2002.
Although FIFA changed the rules after the EU Court of Justice ruling, the new provisions have not yet been recognized by FIFPro, the international players’ union.
The Justice for Players Foundation was established in 2025 specifically to prepare a class action lawsuit. The famous lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont is involved in the case – he represented Jean-Marc Bosman in the high-profile case of 1995, which enshrined the players’ right to free movement after the end of the contract.
What exactly did the EU Court of Justice find illegal?
FIFA established illegal criteria for compensation for contract termination;
- allowed national federations to block transfers without issuing an ITC to the player;
- forced a new club to pay compensation to the previous one;
- impose disciplinary sanctions on players and clubs.
FIFA has not yet provided an official comment on the case.
