Section 14 - Circular Provisions
- b.
Justified contractual terminations
The unilateral termination of a contract can on occasion be justified. Either a club or a player
may have a just cause, within the meaning of regular employment law or existing FIFA rules,
for such termination. In addition, however, the regulations have envisaged specifically for
players the possibility to terminate a contract for a valid sporting reason (‘sporting just
cause’).
Sporting just cause shall be established on a case by case basis, depending on the
individual merits of the case and taking into account all relevant circumstances. One ground
establishing sporting just cause would be if the player can show, at the end of the season,
that he has been fielded in less than 10% of the official matches played by his club.
Whether a player has sporting just cause to break his contract with his club will only be
determined at the end of a season, and before the expiry of the relevant registration period
in the country of the former club.
Nevertheless, a player can ask the Dispute Resolution Chamber whether he has just cause to
terminate his contract immediately, before the end of the season. Furthermore, when
assessing the players’ claim, the Dispute Resolution Chamber may find, on the basis of the
particular circumstances of the case, that in fact the club’s behaviour amounts to a breach of
contract by the club. In that case, the player would have the option to leave this club
immediately, and the club responsible for the contractual breach may be subject to sportive
sanctions and liable to pay financial compensation to the player. The Chamber will assess
the contractual elements of the players’ claim within 30 days after the date on which the
player has submitted his case; The Chamber will determine any sportive sanctions or
financial compensation within another 30 days at the most. Interested parties can appeal
the decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber to the Arbitration Tribunal for Football. An
appeal does not have suspensive effect.
When sporting just cause is established, it shall be determined whether compensation is
payable and the amount of any such compensation. In the event it is determined that
compensation is payable, the amount must obviously be less than the compensation due in
the case of an unjustified contractual breach, since the club is at least in part responsible for
Thus, FIFA’s Players Status Committee developed case law under the previous version of the
present Regulations that a player who had not been paid his contractual salary for several months had just
cause to terminate the employment contract with his club.
See Art. 24 of the Basic Regulations.
.
See Art. 24 of the Basic Regulations.
See Art. 12 of the Application Regulations.
See Art. 24 of the Basic Regulations.
See Art. 42.1.(b)(i) of the Basic Regulations.
See Art. 41.1.(c) of the Basic Regulations.
See Article 24 of the Basic Regulations.
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