The conditions under which a professional player will work, and the mutual rights and obligations of the club and the player, are determined by the professional football player contract signed between the parties. Once the club has reached agreement with the player on the transfer conditions and the other headings, it draws up the contract, submits that instrument to the TFF and completes the licensing formalities so that the player may take the field in matches on behalf of the club.
Whether this process is capable of producing legal effect depends on the contract being formed in conformity with the provisions of the Directive on the Status and Transfer of Professional Football Players (the "Directive"). A significant proportion of the problems encountered in practice arise not from the content of the contract but from the term limit being exceeded or the registration calendar being missed.
In this note we address the distinction between the professional player and the amateur player, the mandatory elements which must appear in the contract, the legal nature of the contract, the registration regime, the obligations of the parties arising from the Directive, and the ways in which the contract may come to an end.
Distinction Between Professional and Amateur Players
The essential dividing line between the two statuses is whether the player obtains income exceeding the expenditure he incurs in order to play football. Article 4 of the Directive on the Status and Transfer of Professional Football Players defines the professional player as follows:
Directive on the Status and Transfer of Professional Football Players, Art. 4
"A player who has concluded a written contract with a club and to whom payment is made in an amount greater than the expenses he incurs within the scope of football activities."
All players falling outside this definition are regarded as amateur players. The transition from amateur to professional status, and the return from professional to amateur status, are separately regulated in Articles 5 and 6 of the Directive. The rule to be underlined here is this: it is not possible for professional teams to field an amateur player in official league and cup matches.
Mandatory Elements of the Contract
The Directive contains no express provision listing collectively the mandatory elements of the contract to be signed between the club and the professional player; it does, however, lay down a number of binding rules as regards the term and the registration of the contract. When the model contract published by the Federation, the Player Registration System and the general provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations on the law of contract are read together, the elements required for validity become clear.
Within this framework, the principal elements which must appear in the contract are as follows:
- The term of the contract, which must be fixed so as not to exceed five years, not to exceed three years for players under the age of 18, and so that the year of expiry falls on 31 May.
- The agreed remuneration must not fall below the minimum wage.
- The legal title of the club, its address for service, and the name, surname, function within the club and title of its authorised representative must be shown.
- The identity particulars of the player, the identity particulars of his legal representative and of his players' agent, if any, the addresses for service of those persons and the legal name of the player's previous club must be stated.
- Where a players' representative has in fact acted on behalf of the club, that person's identity particulars and address for service must also be added to the instrument.
It is further necessary that the contract has been signed by the parties. Beyond this minimum framework the parties may add to the contract whatever clauses they wish, provided these do not conflict with mandatory provisions and with the Directives. In practice it is above all the payment items other than the monthly remuneration and the ancillary benefits, together with the various obligations undertaken by the club and by the player, which are carried across into the text of the contract.
Cases in which clubs fail to pay the remuneration arising under the contract on time and in full are also encountered with no small frequency. The details of the legal avenues open to players in that event are examined in the note entitled "Collection of Professional Players' Receivables from Clubs".
Legal Nature of the Contract
Since Article 4 of Labour Act No. 4857 leaves professional football players outside the scope of that Act, a professional football player contract cannot be characterised as an employment contract. That said, the presence together in the contract of the elements of the rendering of a service, continuity, remuneration and subordination shows that this relationship rests on the basis of a service contract.
Registration of the Contract
For a player to be registered as a club's official athlete and for a licence to be issued to him, it is not sufficient on its own that a contract has been signed between the parties. It is also compulsory for the contract drawn up and the documents listed in Article 14 of the Directive to be transmitted to the TFF by the club within the transfer and registration periods. There are only two transfer and registration periods in a season; those dates, within which clubs may carry out transactions, are fixed and announced by the TFF each season before the first period begins.
The player and the club to which he is currently attached may sign a contract whenever they wish, without being bound by the transfer and registration period, that is to say without being subject to any particular calendar. The instrument so signed must nonetheless be transmitted to the Federation and registered through the club before the close of the first registration period following the date of signature. When a new contract with the existing club is registered, the remaining term of the contract in force at the moment of signature and the term of the new contract are taken into account together. If the total term exceeds five years, the new contract is registered only as regards the part which does not exceed five years. If the contract in force is to come to an end at the close of the season, there is no obstacle to the registration of a new five-year contract with the same club.
An additional procedure is laid down for Süper Lig clubs and for players signing contracts with those clubs. They must transmit the contracts they wish to have registered to the Club Licensing Board before 18:00 on the closing day of the period concerned. The Board decides whether the instruments submitted exceed the team spending limit under the provisions of Annex XII to the Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Directive. Contracts arriving after that hour are not taken up for examination by the Board.
Rights and Obligations of the Parties
As noted above, the player's principal obligation is to take the field in tournaments on behalf of the club to which he is attached, while the club's principal obligation is to pay the agreed remuneration. Alongside these fundamental obligations, the parties may place additional obligations in the contract, and there are also further requirements arising directly from the Directive. Refraining from the use of prohibited substances, for example, is among the player's most fundamental obligations.
The framework concerning the use of prohibited substances by athletes is addressed in the note entitled "Legal Framework Governing Doping in Sport". As regards the sanctions attached to such acts and the possibilities of objection, the note entitled "Sanctions Applied to Doping and Avenues of Objection" may be consulted.
Additional Obligations of Clubs
- To provide the specialist technical staff and medical personnel necessary for the development and health of the players.
- To supply the sports equipment required by the football activity.
- To send to the TFF, at the latest one week before the season begins, the internal regulations and/or disciplinary directives they will apply in the following season; and to deliver those instruments, registered with the TFF, to the player against signature or to serve them through a notary.
- To notify both the player and the Federation, through a notary, of decisions imposing fines on the player, together with the reasons, the amounts and notarised copies of the decision, at the latest within 15 days from the date on which the decision was taken.
- To allocate a pitch to players excluded from the squad so that they may train, under the supervision of at least one coach and in a manner which does not amount to an abuse of right, and to serve the training conditions on the players through a notary.
- To insure their professional players, with the private insurance companies designated by the TFF, against accidents and injuries which may occur in domestic and international matches, in training, in travelling to and from training and in vehicles, so as to cover partial and permanent disability and death, and to notify the insurance company concerned of any risk which materialises within five days.
- To prepare their players' military service documents together with the player, within the framework of the legislation in force, and to submit them to the TFF.
Additional Obligations of Players
- To follow up and complete the formalities incumbent on him and to obtain the necessary documents in order to be able to take part in matches.
- To attend courses, lessons and conferences organised by the club or by the TFF.
- To notify his club and the TFF of medical reports obtained on account of illness or injury within ten days from the date of the report.
Termination of the Contract
Contracts which impose continuing obligations on the parties, such as a player contract, may come to an end automatically upon the occurrence of facts such as death or expiry of the term. Beyond this, the parties ending the relationship by agreement, or one of the parties manifesting an intention to terminate, are also among the legal transactions which bring the contract to an end. Where the grounds for automatic termination apply, the contractual relationship is extinguished without the parties needing to carry out any further transaction; in the other cases, at least one party must make a declaration of intent to that effect.
For a detailed analysis of the routes to termination, the note entitled "Grounds for Termination of a Professional Football Player Contract" may be consulted.
Related Legislation
Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098
Independent Legal Assessment
A significant proportion of disputes over professional football player contracts arise not from the intentions of the parties but from formal requirements being overlooked. A failure to take the residual term of the contract in force into account when calculating the five-year upper limit, or a registration application going beyond the end of the period, may result in a signed instrument having no effect before the Federation. In the same way, the failure to record items other than the monthly remuneration in the contract lays the ground for later argument as to whether they may be claimed.
The characterisation of the contract as a service contract is not a merely theoretical finding; it determines the provision to be applied on a number of headings, from the consequences of termination to the validity of a release. We recommend that the following points be observed when the contract is being drawn up and at the registration stage:
- Calculating the term together with the remaining part of the existing contract and in conformity with the rule fixing expiry on 31 May
- Recording expressly in the instrument all payment items, including bonuses, match fees and ancillary benefits
- Following the transfer and registration calendar, including the 18:00 cut-off for Süper Lig clubs
- Recording whether the club's internal regulations and disciplinary directives have been duly served on the player
- Checking whether the 15-day period and the notary requirement have been complied with in notifying fines
- Monitoring the scope of the insurance obligation and the five-day period laid down for notifying a risk
Independent Legal advises clubs and athletes on contract preparation, registration processes and the resolution of disputes arising from them.