Where a professional football player terminates his contract without relying on just cause during the period known as the protected period, the regime of unjust termination comes into play. The same consequences are also applied against the player in certain cases where the contract has been terminated by the club for just cause.
There is a limit in this second scenario. For a player to face the sanctions attaching to unjust termination, the just cause relied on by the club must fall outside the scope of the situations enumerated in subparagraphs “a”, “b” and “d” under Article 27(1) of the Regulations on Professional Football and Transfers.
Below we address, under separate headings, the legal consequences that arise where a professional player contract is held to have been brought to an end unjustly by the player.
Compensation for Unjust Termination
The TFF regulations set out no method for calculating the amount of compensation. Whether the termination is to be regarded as unjust and, if so, the amount to be awarded, are left to the discretion of the arbitral panel constituted through the Dispute Resolution Chamber within the particular circumstances of each dispute.
The picture drawn by the decisions of the Dispute Resolution Chamber and the Arbitration Board shows that compensation is determined by assessing a body of objective criteria as a whole. Those criteria include such matters as all payments made to the player under the contract, the remaining term of the terminated contract, and the parties’ ability to conclude a new contract.
Sporting Sanctions
The most serious consequence of unjust termination of the contract by the player is undoubtedly the risk of a sporting sanction. Given the economic scale the football market has reached, an award of compensation alone is insufficient as a deterrent, and the sanction is therefore carried onto the pitch. The conditions and measure of the sporting sanction are regulated in the second paragraph of Article 30 of the same Regulations and in the provisions that follow it.
Accordingly, the imposition of a sporting sanction on a player depends on all of the following conditions being met together:
- That the termination was effected at a time when the player was within the protected period,
- That the bringing to an end originated with the player and was unjust in character,
- That the club, as the counterparty to the contract, applied for a sporting sanction to the Dispute Resolution Chamber, which has exclusive jurisdiction in this matter, before the close of the registration period following service of the notice of termination upon it.
Since applications made after the transfer and registration period has closed are not examined on account of the time limit, no sanction is imposed on the player in that case.
Where the conditions are met, a player who unjustly brings his contract to an end while within the protected period is banned from official matches for four months. Where aggravating circumstances are present, that period may be extended to six months. Sporting sanctions imposed are served both on the player and on the clubs concerned.
As regards the start of enforcement, the criterion is the first official match to be played by the club with which the player is registered after its mid-season break. Where the sanction is imposed in the second half of the season or after the season has been completed, enforcement begins to run from the first official match of the following season.
The just causes on which a player may terminate his contract, and the procedure he must follow in doing so, are examined in detail in the note entitled “Termination of a Professional Player Contract by the Player”.
Transfer to a New Club After Unjust Termination
Another important consequence of the ending of the contract is that the player may move freely to another club, irrespective of which party the termination came from or whether it was justified. The transfer is, however, made subject to a condition: the new club wishing to add the player to its squad must sign an undertaking accepting that it is jointly and severally liable for the legal and sporting consequences arising from the termination.
Where the player is ordered to pay compensation for unjust termination to his former club, the club that signed that undertaking and transferred the player after the termination is also held jointly and severally liable for the compensation awarded.
The risk the new club may face is not confined to compensation either. The Regulations presume, unless the contrary is proved, that a club which signs a contract with a player who has brought his previous contract to an end without just cause induced the player to terminate. A club that cannot rebut that presumption before the UÇK may also have a sporting sanction imposed on it; the club in question is prohibited from adding players to its squad for two transfer and registration periods. By contrast, if the club can demonstrate in the proceedings before the UÇK that it did not encourage the player to terminate, it faces no sanction.
Nor have the Regulations confined the addressees of the sanction to clubs. Club officials, players’ agents and players who act in a manner calculated to lead a player to terminate his contract with a view to facilitating his transfer may also be penalised.
A professional player contract may, moreover, come to an end automatically, or be brought to an end by the mutual agreement of the parties or by the unilateral will of the club. A detailed assessment of all the modes of termination is set out in the note entitled “Modes of Termination of a Professional Player Contract”. The procedure and principles clubs must follow when exercising the right to terminate are addressed in the note entitled “Termination of a Professional Player Contract by the Club”.
Independent Legal Assessment
In unjust termination disputes, the first question determining the outcome is whether the termination took place within the protected period; without that finding, neither the calculation of compensation nor the argument on sporting sanctions can be conducted soundly. The second decisive element is time: a failure to submit the application for a sanction to the chamber within the prescribed registration period means that the sanction never arises at all.
For the new club, the issue is not confined to the undertaking of joint and several liability; the presumption of inducement places the burden of proof on the club. For that reason, the correspondence in which the transfer negotiations were recorded forms the basis of the defence. In a concrete file, the following headings should be prioritised:
- Establishing by documents whether the date of termination fell within the protected period
- Examining whether the club’s claim of just cause rests on a ground other than subparagraphs “a”, “b” and “d” of Art. 27(1) of the Regulations
- Checking whether the application for a sporting sanction was made within the transfer and registration period
- Placing on the file, in detail, the remaining term of the contract and the payments made, for the purposes of calculating compensation
- Assessing in advance the scope of the undertaking signed by the new club and the risks it gives rise to
- Compiling from the outset the correspondence, records of meetings and agency documents capable of rebutting the presumption of inducement
Independent Legal provides advisory and representation services to players and clubs in disputes arising from the termination of contracts, including proceedings before the Dispute Resolution Chamber and the Arbitration Board.