The fact that the French players’ union UNFP has joined the “Justice for Players” (JfP) movement has received little public attention. However, this move puts enormous pressure on the associations.
In France in particular, the level of organization among professional soccer players is extremely high, with the UNFP claiming to represent the interests of more than 90 percent of professional soccer players. “Our main goal is to offer FIFA a new opportunity to sit down at the negotiating table with the players’ representatives in order to jointly develop new regulations that comply with European law and strike a balance between the interests of employees and employers,” explained its chairman, David Terrier, who once played for FC Metz and AC Ajaccio, among others.
Diarra and the ECJ as background to the development
The background to this development is Lassana Diarra’s successful lawsuit against FIFA and Lokomotiv Moscow after he was denied a contract with Sporting Charleroi due to a ban imposed by the world governing body. A court in Belgium referred the matter to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which ruled that parts of FIFA’s transfer rules were incompatible with EU law.
FIFA subsequently issued a revised set of rules. However, in order to achieve final stability, concrete negotiations with player representatives such as the international union Fifpro are needed. However, Fifpro is also at loggerheads with the world governing body in other areas: its European branch, together with the European Leagues (EL), which also includes the German Football League (DFL), has filed a complaint against FIFA with the European Commission due to the increasingly tight match schedule.
The background to this is the expansion of various competitions under President Gianni Infantino, most notably the Club World Cup, which now features 32 teams. The German players’ union VdV has also lodged a complaint with the Commission about “overloading professionals and cannibalizing competitions.”
Dupont has already turned soccer upside down once before
But back to the JfP initiative: Diarra is now demanding €65 million in compensation. And he has the support of the JfP movement, which was founded in the Netherlands. According to its own statement, the movement is committed to ensuring that professional soccer players have the right to play for a club of their choice at the time of their election and to be compensated for financial losses incurred as a result of transfer regulations.
The fact that Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, who also represents Diarra, supports JfP with his law firm “Dupont Hissel” is not the best sign for the associations. He was once responsible for the Bosman ruling, which turned the international transfer market upside down.
JfP is currently recruiting supporters among professionals, former professionals, and player agents in order to increase pressure on associations and clubs in preparation for a class action lawsuit. The fact that the UNFP is joining the initiative can be considered a success given its strong roots among footballers, as in many countries the level of organization among professional footballers is not as high as in France.
