Top EU court says FIFA’s transfer rules are not in line with European Union law

On Friday, the European Union’s top court announced that some FIFA regulations on player transfers are not in line with the bloc’s legislation.

It comes after former France international Lassana Diarra challenged the rules, insisting that they impeded him from finding another club after his contract with Lokomotiv Moscow was terminated.

Diarra’s signed a 4-year deal in 2013 that ended after a year, due to him being unhappy with alleged pay cuts.

According to federation rules, if a player ends their contract without a ‘just cause’, the player and any club wanting to sign them are both liable for paying compensation to the former club.

Diarra also claimed that a potential agreement with Belgian club Charleroi did not work out due to the rules, and sued fifa for 6 million euros. With the case still making its way through Belgian courts, it was referred to the EU court of justice

The EU court stated that the fifa rules impede the free movement of players and competition between clubs.

The court also denounced the federation’s rulings for limiting and preventing cross-border competition between European clubs.