European Sports Law and Policy Bulletin THE BERNARD ... - Slpc.eu

EUROPEAN SPORTS LAW AND POLICY BULLETIN 1/2010THE SYSTEM OF TRAINING COMPENSATION ACCORDING TOTHE FIFA REGULATIONS ON THE STATUS AND TRANSFER OFPLAYERSby Omar Ongaro ∗SUMMARY: 1. Introduction – 1.1 General remarks – 1.2 Brief historical summary –2. Training compensation – 2.1 Regulatory basis – 2.2 Principles – 2.2.1 Trainingperiod – 2.2.2 Events giving rise to the right to training compensation – 2.2.3Events precluding the right to training compensation – 2.3 Training costs – 2.3.1Categorisation of clubs – 2.3.2 Criteria for the determination of the training costs– 2.3.3 Actual calculation of the training costs per category – 2.4 Calculation oftraining compensation – 3. Solidarity Mechanism – 3.1 Regulatory basis – 3.2Structural differences to the training compensation – 3.3 Principles – 4. Conclusions1. Introduction1.1 General remarksI deem that following the ECJ judgement in the Bernard case, 1 FIFA has reasonsto be cautiously optimistic that the principles it included in its regulations in order toreward clubs investing in the training and education of young players will standbefore the legal appreciation by the competent courts in respect of the compatibilityof the pertinent existing rules applicable to international transfers with Europeanlaw. Indeed, various of the considerations of the Grand Chamber appear to sustainthe system adopted by FIFA within the scope of the international transfer of players.The encouraging aspects clearly prevail. Most notably, the judgementconfirms the approach adopted by the Dispute Resolution Chamber of FIFA (DRC) 2according to which a player at the end of his training and education cannot be____________________∗Head of the FIFA Players’ Status and Governance Department. The position expressed in this shortarticle reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not necessarily correspond to the officialposition of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).1ECJ, 16 March 2010, Olympique Lyonnais v Olivier Bernard and Newcastle United FC,C-325/08, not yet published in the ECR.2DRC decision no. 114660 of 9 November 2004; DRC decision no. 114667_09 of 9 November